Sarah Houbolt is an Australian

Paralympic The Paralympic Games or Paralympics, also known as the ''Games of the Paralympiad'', is a periodic series of international multisport events involving athletes with a range of physical disabilities, including impaired muscle power and impaire ...

swimmer and a physical theatre performer. She is a strong advocate for disability rights and the arts.

Personal

Houbolt was born in 1983 in

Townsville, Queensland Townsville is a city on the north-eastern coast of Queensland, Australia. With a population of 180,820 as of June 2018, it is the largest settlement in North Queensland; it is unofficially considered its capital. Estimated resident population, 3 ...

. Houbolt was born with the rare Hallermann-Streiff syndrome which affects her bone structure and makes her stand at 144 centimetres (4.7 feet) tall. She also has partial sight and is legally blind. Houbolt has graduated with Bachelor of Arts and Bachelor of Social Work from the

University of Queensland , mottoeng = By means of knowledge and hard work , established = , endowment = A$224.3 million , budget = A$2.1 billion , type = Public research university , chancellor = Peter Varghese , vice_chancellor = Deborah Terry , city = B ...

. She has worked in arts management. In 2017, she was working as an Equity and Diversity Officer (Disability) at

University of Technology Sydney The University of Technology Sydney (UTS) is a public research university located in Sydney, New South Wales, Australia. Although its origins are said to trace back to the 1830s, the university was founded in its current form in 1988. As of 2021 ...

Sporting career

Houbolt classified as an S12 swimmer. She competed at the 1st IBSA World Championships and Games in

Madrid Madrid ( , ) is the capital and most populous city of Spain. The city has almost 3.4 million inhabitants and a metropolitan area population of approximately 6.7 million. It is the second-largest city in the European Union (EU), and ...

Spain , image_flag = Bandera de España.svg , image_coat = Escudo de España (mazonado).svg , national_motto = ''Plus ultra'' (Latin)(English: "Further Beyond") , national_anthem = (English: "Royal March") , i ...

. Her best results were fifth in the Women's 100 m Butterfly and sixth in the Women's 100 m Breaststroke. At the

1999 FESPIC Games The 1999 FESPIC Games, officially known as the 7th FESPIC Games, was an Asia-Pacific disabled multi-sport event held in Bangkok, Thailand from 10 to 16 January 1999, 20 days after the 1998 Asian Games. It was one of the two FESPIC Games to have h ...

Bangkok Bangkok, officially known in Thai language, Thai as Krung Thep Maha Nakhon and colloquially as Krung Thep, is the capital and most populous city of Thailand. The city occupies in the Chao Phraya River delta in central Thailand and has an estima ...

Thailand Thailand ( ), historically known as Siam () and officially the Kingdom of Thailand, is a country in Southeast Asia, located at the centre of the Indochinese Peninsula, spanning , with a population of almost 70 million. The country is bo ...

, she won three gold and one silver medal. At the

2000 Sydney Paralympics The 2000 Summer Paralympic Games or the XI Summer Paralympics were held in Sydney, New South Wales, Australia, between 18 and 29 October. The Sydney Paralympics was last time that the Summer Paralympics which were organized by two different ...

, her results were seventh in the Women's 100 m Breaststroke SB12 and eighth in the Women's 100 m Butterfly S12. She also swam in the heats of the Women's 50 m Freestyle S12 and Women 100 m Freestyle S12. After the Sydney Paralympics, she moved in circus and physical theatre events.

Artistic career

After the Sydney Paralympics, she joined the Vulcana Women's Circus as an aerial performer after wanting to keep the active lifestyle. Her skills include aerials, acrobatics and hula hoops. She has worked with

Cirque du Soleil Cirque du Soleil (, ; "Circus of the Sun" or "Sun Circus") is a Canadian entertainment company and the largest contemporary circus producer in the world. Located in the inner-city area of Saint-Michel, it was founded in Baie-Saint-Paul on 16 Ju ...

. Houbolt's one-woman show, KooKoo the Birdgirl, has toured Australia and New Zealand. Her film credits include: ''Romeo and Juliet: A Love Song'' (2013), '' Cirque du Soleil: Worlds Away'' (2012), ''The Deadly Ponies Gang'' (2013), ''Reflections in the Dust'' (2018), and ''

Three Thousand Years of Longing ''Three Thousand Years of Longing'' is a 2022 fantasy romantic drama film directed and produced by George Miller. Written by Miller and Augusta Gore, it is based on the short story "The Djinn in the Nightingale's Eye" by A. S. Byatt and star ...

(2022)''.

Recognition

* 1998 - Australia Post - Student of the Year Sports Award * 1998 - Australian Blind Sports Federation - Most Outstanding Single Performance * 1998/99 - Queen's Trust for Young Australian Achiever Award *2012 - National Artistic Achievement Award by Arts Access Aotearoa *2017 - Vision Australia Award *2019 - Green Room Award - Performance (by an Individual or Ensemble)

References

External links

Sarah Houbolt - Performance Show Reel
(YouTube)
Sarah Houbolt
(IMDb) {{DEFAULTSORT:Houbolt, Sarah 1983 births Living people Visually impaired category Paralympic competitors Female Paralympic swimmers for Australia Swimmers at the 2000 Summer Paralympics S12-classified para swimmers Actors with disabilities University of Queensland alumni Australian blind people FESPIC Games competitors Australian female breaststroke swimmers Australian female butterfly swimmers People from Townsville Sportswomen from Queensland