Ashleigh Kate McConnell, (born 26 March 1996) is a limb deficient Paralympic swimmer of Australia. She represented Australia at the

2016 Rio Paralympics ) , nations = 159 , athletes = 4,342 , opening = 7 September , closing = 18 September , opened_by = President Michel Temer , cauldron = Clodoaldo Silva , events = 528 in 22 sports , stadium = Maracanã , sum ...

and the

2020 Tokyo Paralympics The , branded as the Tokyo 2020 Paralympic Games, was an international 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 International Paralympic ...

, where she won gold medals in freestyle relay events.

Personal

McConnell was born on 26 March 1996 in

Melbourne Melbourne ( ; Boonwurrung/Woiwurrung: ''Narrm'' or ''Naarm'') is the capital and most populous city of the Australian state of Victoria, and the second-most populous city in both Australia and Oceania. Its name generally refers to a met ...

, Victoria. She was born without her left forearm and left hand. She attended Sunbury College. In 2015, she was studying Business at Royal Melbourne Institute of Technology.

Career

McConnell started swimming at the age of four. She is classified as a S9 swimmer. She narrowly missed out on making the

2014 Commonwealth Games The 2014 Commonwealth Games ( gd, Geamannan a' Cho-fhlaitheis 2014), officially known as the XX Commonwealth Games and commonly known as Glasgow 2014, ( sco, Glesca 2014 or Glesga 2014; gd, Glaschu 2014), was an international multi-sport ev ...

and

2014 Pan Pacific Swimming Championships The 2014 Pan Pacific Swimming Championships, also known as the 2014 Hancock Prospecting Pan Pacific Swimming Championships, a long course (50 m) event, was held in Gold Coast, Queensland, Australia, from 21 to 25 August 2014. Qualifying cr ...

. At the

2015 IPC Swimming World Championships The 2015 IPC Swimming World Championships was an international swimming competition for athletes with a disability. It was held in Glasgow, United Kingdom and took place from 13 to 19 July. Around 580 athletes from around 70 countries competed at ...

Glasgow Glasgow ( ; sco, Glesca or ; gd, Glaschu ) is the most populous city in Scotland and the fourth-most populous city in the United Kingdom, as well as being the 27th largest city by population in Europe. In 2020, it had an estimated popul ...

, Scotland, she won a gold medal in the Women's 4 × 100 m Freestyle Relay 34 points. At the

2016 Summer Paralympics ) , nations = 159 , athletes = 4,342 , opening = 7 September , closing = 18 September , opened_by = President Michel Temer , cauldron = Clodoaldo Silva , events = 528 in 22 sports , stadium = Maracanã , sum ...

, McConnell won the gold medal in the Women's 4 × 100 m Freestyle Relay 34 points and competed in three additional freestyle events. At the

2018 Commonwealth Games The 2018 Commonwealth Games, officially known as the XXI Commonwealth Games and also known as Gold Coast 2018, was an international multi-sport event for members of the Commonwealth that were held on the Gold Coast, Queensland, Australia, bet ...

on the

Gold Coast Gold Coast may refer to: Places Africa * Gold Coast (region), in West Africa, which was made up of the following colonies, before being established as the independent nation of Ghana: ** Portuguese Gold Coast (Portuguese, 1482–1642) ** Dutch G ...

, McConnell won the bronze medal in the Women's 100m Backstroke S9. At the

, McConnell, together with her team of

Emily Beecroft Emily Beecroft (born 19 November 1999) is an Australian Paralympic swimmer. She represented Australia at the 2016 Rio Paralympics,2020 Tokyo Paralympics and has been selected for 2024 Summer Paralympics. She won a silver and bronze medal at the ...

, Ellie Cole, and

Isabella Vincent Isabella Burchell became known as Isabella Vincent and Mrs Mills (1734 – 9 June 1802) was a British milkmaid and later singer at Vauxhall Gardens for ten years. Life She was said to have been a milkmaid who was trained as a singer at the expens ...

won a silver medal in the Women's 4x100m Freestyle 34 pts with a time of 4:26.82, two seconds behind the winners, Italy. She also qualified for the final of the Women's 100 m freestyle S9 where she finished sixth. At the

2022 Commonwealth Games The 2022 Commonwealth Games, officially known as the XXII Commonwealth Games and commonly known as Birmingham 2022, was an international multi-sport event for members of the Commonwealth of Nations that took place in Birmingham, England bet ...

, Birmingham, England, she finished 4th in the Women's 100 m freestyle S9. McConnell's motto is "You can't put a limit on anything. The more you dream, the further you get".

Recognition

In 2016, with Para swimmer Monique Murphy, McConnell was named

RMIT RMIT University, officially the Royal Melbourne Institute of Technology,, section 4(b) is a public research university in Melbourne, Australia. Founded in 1887 by Francis Ormond, RMIT began as a night school offering classes in art, scienc ...

's Female Athlete of the Year. McConnell was awarded the Medal of the Order of Australia in 2017.

References

External links

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2017-04-04
* * * * {{DEFAULTSORT:McConnell, Ashleigh 1996 births Amputee category Paralympic competitors Female Paralympic swimmers for Australia Living people Sportswomen from Victoria (state) Swimmers at the 2016 Summer Paralympics Swimmers at the 2020 Summer Paralympics Paralympic gold medalists for Australia Medalists at the 2016 Summer Paralympics Medalists at the 2020 Summer Paralympics Recipients of the Medal of the Order of Australia Commonwealth Games medallists in swimming Commonwealth Games bronze medallists for Australia Swimmers at the 2018 Commonwealth Games Swimmers at the 2022 Commonwealth Games Medalists at the World Para Swimming Championships Paralympic medalists in swimming Australian female freestyle swimmers S9-classified para swimmers Medallists at the 2018 Commonwealth Games