Rowan Crothers (born 24 October 1997) is an Australian freestyle

swimmer Swimming is an individual or team racing sport that requires the use of one's entire body to move through water. The sport takes place in pools or open water (e.g., in a sea or lake). Competitive swimming is one of the most popular Olympic ...

. He represented Australia at the

2016 Rio Paralympics The 2016 Summer Paralympics (), the 15th Summer Paralympic Games, were a major international multi-sport event for athletes with disabilities governed by the International Paralympic Committee, held in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, from 7 to 18 Sept ...

2020 Tokyo Paralympics The , branded as the Tokyo 2020 Paralympic Games, were an international multi-sport event, multi-sport parasports event held from 24 August to 5 September 2021 in Tokyo, Japan. They were the 16th Summer Paralympic Games as organized by the Inte ...

and 2024 Paris Paralympics. He won two gold and one silver medals at the Tokyo Paralympics and two silver and one bronze medals at Paris Paralympics.

Personal life

Crothers was born 15 weeks prematurely on 24 October 1997 in

Gosford Gosford is a waterfront city at the northern end of Brisbane Water on the Central Coast in the state of New South Wales, Australia. The Gosford Waterfront is known for its boating and scenic views on the shores of Brisbane Water. Gosford is ...

on the New South Wales Central Coast and currently lives in Moorooka, Queensland. Rowan attended

Newmarket State School Newmarket State School is a heritage-listed state school at 320 Enoggera Road, Newmarket, Queensland, Newmarket, City of Brisbane, Queensland, Australia. It was designed by Queensland Department of Public Works and Boulton & Paul Ltd and built ...

Kelvin Grove State College Kelvin Grove State College is a government primary secondary school in Kelvin Grove, Brisbane, Queensland, Australia, three kilometres from Brisbane’s central business district and adjacent the Kelvin Grove campus of Queensland University o ...

and

St Laurence's College St Laurence's College (known colloquially as Lauries) is an independent Catholic primary and secondary school for boys, located in South Brisbane, Queensland, Australia. Founded by the Congregation of Christian Brothers in 1915. the school is a m ...

. Crothers' prematurity resulted in him developing

cerebral palsy Cerebral palsy (CP) is a group of movement disorders that appear in early childhood. Signs and symptoms vary among people and over time, but include poor coordination, spasticity, stiff muscles, Paresis, weak muscles, and tremors. There may b ...

due to IVH, and

bronchopulmonary dysplasia Bronchopulmonary dysplasia (BPD; part of the spectrum of chronic lung disease of infancy) is a chronic lung disease which affects premature infants. Premature (preterm) infants who require treatment with supplemental oxygen or require long-term ox ...

causing permanent lung scarring. His Cerebral Palsy ( spastic diplegia) impacts his coordination and motor control predominantly in his lower body, however his upper body is also affected to a lesser extent. Crothers requires a vehicle modified with hand controls to legally drive and is currently working towards obtaining a full licence. In the pool, CP impacts the effectiveness of his kick and ability to control body positioning. He has worked consistently on perfecting a propulsion style to make the most out of what coordination he has. Crothers features in the 2020 documentar
No Distinguishing Features
which .." follows the stories of six people living with disabilities from across Australia and New Zealand. Six people who were given a strict roadmap for their life the moment they were born. Six people who went on to tear that roadmap to shreds."

Career

Crothers has been a member of the Yeronga Park Swim Club since 2012 where he initially trained under Rick Van Der Zant. He is currently trained by Kate Sparkes. Notable members of his training squad include or have included Ryan Pini, Lorna Tonks and Chelsea Gubecka. Crothers made his international swimming debut as a 13-year-old at the 2011 Arafura Games where he claimed a bronze medal in the Men's 400 m MC freestyle and broke 4 Australian National Age Records in the 50m, 100 m, 200 m and 400 m freestyle events in the S9 classification. He went on to claim S9 Australian National Age Records in freestyle as a 13, 14, 15 and 16 year old in the 50 m, 100 m, 200 m, and the 400 m freestyle. At the 2013 Australian Short Course Championships, Crothers broke the men's S9 World Record for the 400 m SC freestyle. In 2014 at the Australian Swimming Championships, Crothers broke World Records in the S9 100 m freestyle twice, and another in the S9 200 m freestyle. These swims qualified him for the 2014 Australian Commonwealth Games Swim Team and the 2014 Para Pan Pacs Team. Crothers went on to win Gold at the

2014 Commonwealth Games The 2014 Commonwealth Games (), officially known as the XX Commonwealth Games and commonly known as Glasgow 2014 (; ), were an international multi-sport event celebrated in the tradition of the Commonwealth Games as governed by the Commonwea ...

breaking his own World Record In 2016 Crothers was reclassified from S9 to S10 which was a major adjustment. He went on to compete at the

in four events and qualified for the finals in each. He placed fifth in the Men's 4 × 100 m Freestyle (34 points), sixth in Men's 400 m Freestyle S10, fifth in Men's 100 m Freestyle S10 and sixth in Men's 50 m Freestyle S10. At the

2019 World Para Swimming Championships The 2019 World Para Swimming Championships was the tenth edition of the World Para Swimming Championships run by the International Paralympic Committee (IPC). The championships were held from February to June in seven countries across five contine ...

, he won the bronze medals in the Men's 50 m and 100 m Freestyle S10. In 2021, Crothers swam at the delayed

2020 Tokyo Paralympic Games The , branded as the Tokyo 2020 Paralympic Games, were an international multi-sport event, multi-sport parasports event held from 24 August to 5 September 2021 in Tokyo, Japan. They were the 16th Summer Paralympic Games as organized by the Inte ...

winning gold in the 50 m Freestyle S10 with a time of 23.21, and silver in the 100 m Freestyle S10 with a time of 51,37. Crothers won gold in the Men's 4×100 m freestyle 34 pts along with William Martin, Matt Levy and Ben Popham, breaking the current World Record by almost 2 seconds. Crothers won two gold medals - Men's 50 m Freestyle and Men's 100m Freestyle at both the

2022 World Para Swimming Championships The 2022 World Para Swimming Championships was the 11th edition of the World Para Swimming Championships, an international swimming competition for athletes with a disability. It was held in Madeira from 12 to 18 June. The competition was origin ...

Madeira Madeira ( ; ), officially the Autonomous Region of Madeira (), is an autonomous Regions of Portugal, autonomous region of Portugal. It is an archipelago situated in the North Atlantic Ocean, in the region of Macaronesia, just under north of ...

and

2023 World Para Swimming Championships The 2023 World Para Swimming Championships was the 12th edition of the World Para Swimming Championships, an international swimming competition for swimmers with disabilities. It was held in Manchester, Great Britain from 31 July to 6 August 202 ...

Manchester, England Manchester () is a city and the metropolitan borough of Greater Manchester, England. It had an estimated population of in . Greater Manchester is the third-most populous metropolitan area in the United Kingdom, with a population of 2.92&nbs ...

Winning Performances

International Competition Medals

2011 Arafura Games inc. Oceanic Paralympic Championships Bronze - Men's 400 LC Meter Freestyle Multi-Class 2013 IPC Swimming World Championships - Montreal Gold – Men's 34pt 4 × 100 m freestyle relay Bronze - S9 Male 100m freestyle

Gold – S9 Male 100m freestyle (WR) 2018 Pan Pacific Para Swimming Championships Gold – Men's Open 400 LC Metre Freestyle Multi-Class Gold – Men's Open 100 LC Metre Freestyle Multi-Class Gold - Men 4x100 LC Metre Freestyle 34 point, S1 - S10 Relay Silver – Men's Open 50 LC Metre Freestyle Multi-Class

Gold - Men's 50m Freestyle - S10 Silver - Men's 50m Freestyle - S10 Gold - Men 4x100 LC Metre Freestyle 34 point, S1 - S10 Relay (WR)

National Open Competition Medals

2012 Australian Open Swimming Championships Silver - Men 12 & Over 400 LC Metre Freestyle Multi-Class 2013 Australian Open Water Championships Silver - Men 5K Open Water Multi-Class 2013 Australian Open Swimming Championships Silver - Male 400 LC Metre Freestyle Multi-Class Bronze - Male 100 LC Metre Freestyle Multi-Class 2013 Australian Open Short Course Swimming Championships Gold – Men's Open 400 SC Metre Freestyle Multi-Class (WR) 2014 Australian Open Swimming Championships Gold – Men's 100m freestyle Para Sport S9 (WR) Gold – Men's Open 100 LC Metre Freestyle Multi-Class (WR) Silver – Men's Open 400 LC Metre Freestyle Multi-Class Gold – Men's Open 200 LC Metre Freestyle Multi-Class (WR) 2016 Australian Open Swimming Championships Silver – Men's Open 400 LC Metre Freestyle Multi-Class Silver - 4 × 50 m MC freestyle relay 2017 Australian Open Swimming Championships Bronze - Men's Open 50 LC Metre Freestyle Multi-Class 2019 Australian Open Swimming Championships Gold - Men's Open 50 LC Metre Freestyle Multi-Class Gold - Men's Open 100 LC Metre Freestyle Multi-Class

Awards

*2009 Best Novice Athlete - Sporting Wheelies and Disabled Association *2009/10 North-West Regional Finalist - Quest Youngstar Award for Sport *2010 Most Improved Junior Athlete - Sporting Wheelies and Disabled Association *2010/11 North-West Regional Finalist - Quest Youngstar Award for Sport *2010 Roy Fowler Male Swimmer of the Meet - Queensland AWD Swimming Championships *2011 Best Junior Athlete - Sporting Wheelies and Disabled Association *2011 Swimmer of the Meet State Multi-Class Swimming Championships - Queensland Swimming *2011/12 North-West Regional Winner - Quest Youngstar Award for Sport *2012 Swimmer of the Meet State Multi-Class Swimming Championships - Queensland Swimming *2013 RSL Youth Development Program Grant Recipient *2013 Brisbane Swimming Association Swimmer with a Disability for 2012/13 *2014 Brisbane Swimming Association President's Award for 2013/14 (Glen Bigg Trophy) *2014 Junior and Senior Male Athlete of the Year - Sporting Wheelies and Disabled Association *2017 - Swimming Australia Paralympic Program Swimmer of the Year. * 2022 –

Medal of the Order of Australia The Order of Australia is an Australian honour that recognises Australian citizens and other persons for outstanding achievement and service. It was established on 14 February 1975 by Elizabeth II, Queen of Australia, on the advice of then ...

* 2022 - Swimming Australia Paralympic Program Swimmer of the Year *2023 - Swimming Australia Paralympic Program Swimmer of the Year

References

External links

*
archive
* *
Rowan Crothers
at the

Paris 2024 Summer Paralympics The 2024 Summer Paralympics (), also known as the Paris 2024 Paralympic Games (), and branded as Paris 2024, were the 17th Summer Paralympic Games, an international Multi-sport event, multi-sport parasports event governed by the International P ...

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Crothers, Rowan 1997 births Living people Australian male freestyle swimmers Male Paralympic swimmers for Australia Paralympic gold medalists for Australia Paralympic silver medalists for Australia Paralympic bronze medalists for Australia Paralympic medalists in swimming Swimmers at the 2014 Commonwealth Games Swimmers at the 2016 Summer Paralympics Swimmers at the 2020 Summer Paralympics Swimmers at the 2024 Summer Paralympics Medalists at the 2020 Summer Paralympics Medalists at the 2024 Summer Paralympics Commonwealth Games gold medallists for Australia Commonwealth Games gold medallists in swimming Medallists at the 2014 Commonwealth Games World record holders in paralympic swimming Medalists at the World Para Swimming Championships Recipients of the Medal of the Order of Australia Swimmers with cerebral palsy S10-classified para swimmers People educated at St Laurence's College Sportsmen from Queensland 21st-century Australian sportsmen