Dr. Bridie Kean (born 27 February 1987) is an Australian

wheelchair basketball Wheelchair basketball is basketball played by people with varying physical disabilities that disqualify them from playing a non-disabled sport. These include spina bifida, birth defects, cerebral palsy, paralysis due to accident, amputations (of ...

player and

canoeist Canoeing is an activity which involves paddling a canoe with a single-bladed paddle. Common meanings of the term are limited to when the canoeing is the central purpose of the activity. Broader meanings include when it is combined with other acti ...

. She won a bronze medal at the

2008 Summer Paralympics The 2008 Summer Paralympic Games (), the 13th Summer Paralympic Games, took place in Beijing, China from September 6 to 17, 2008. As with the 2008 Summer Olympics, equestrian events were held in Hong Kong and sailing events in Qingdao. It was ...

Beijing } Beijing ( ; ; ), alternatively romanized as Peking ( ), is the capital of the People's Republic of China. It is the center of power and development of the country. Beijing is the world's most populous national capital city, with over 21 ...

, and a silver medal at the

2012 Summer Paralympics The 2012 Summer Paralympics, branded as the London 2012 Paralympic Games, were an international multi-sport parasports event held from 29 August to 9 September 2012 in London, England, United Kingdom. They were the 14th Summer Paralympic Gam ...

London London is the capital and largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary down to the North Sea, and has been a majo ...

. In 2016, she became a

va'a Vaʻa is a word in Samoan, Hawaiian and Tahitian which means 'boat', 'canoe' or 'ship'. A larger traditional seagoing vessel for long-distance voyages is referred to as ''vaʻa tele'' (big ship). The term ''alia'' is also used for larger vessel ...

world champion.

Personal life

Dr. Kean was born 27 February 1987. When she was two, her feet were amputated due to

meningococcal septicaemia Meningococcal disease describes infections caused by the bacterium '' Neisseria meningitidis'' (also termed meningococcus). It has a high mortality rate if untreated but is vaccine-preventable. While best known as a cause of meningitis, it can a ...

. She is nicknamed Bird because her friend Kate Dunstan in high school thought it was funny that her name sounded like Bird. Then, when she moved to the United States, her friends struggled to pronounce her first name correctly – it rhymes with "tidy" – when she was living there. And so, the nickname stuck. Her hometown is

Parkdale, Victoria Parkdale is a suburb in Melbourne, Victoria, Australia, 23 km south-east of Melbourne's Central Business District, located within the City of Kingston local government area. Parkdale recorded a population of 12,308 at the . It is situat ...

. An award in Kean's honour, acknowledging qualities of compassion and bravery, is each year presented to a student at

Kilbreda College , motto_translation = Strength and Kindliness , established = , type = Independent secondary day school , denomination = Roman Catholic , religious_affiliation = Brigidine Sisters , gende ...

, where she went to school. , she lives in

Alexandra Headland, Queensland Alexandra Headland is a coastal suburb of Maroochydore in the Sunshine Coast Region, Queensland, Australia. In the , Alexandra Headland had a population of 3,958 people. Geography Alexandra Headland is located between Maroochydore CBD and Moo ...

. Kean did a

gap year A gap year, also known as a sabbatical year, is typically a year-long break before or after college/university during which students engage in various educational and developmental activities, such as travel or some type of regular work. Gap yea ...

England England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Wales to its west and Scotland to its north. The Irish Sea lies northwest and the Celtic Sea to the southwest. It is separated from continental Europe b ...

in 2005. She earned a

Bachelor of Science A Bachelor of Science (BS, BSc, SB, or ScB; from the Latin ') is a bachelor's degree awarded for programs that generally last three to five years. The first university to admit a student to the degree of Bachelor of Science was the University of ...

from the

University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign The University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign (U of I, Illinois, University of Illinois, or UIUC) is a public land-grant research university in Illinois in the twin cities of Champaign and Urbana. It is the flagship institution of the Universi ...

in 2010, and in graduated with a

Master of Public Health The Master of Public Health or Master of Philosophy in Public Health (M.P.H.), Master of Science in Public Health (MSPH), Master of Medical Science in Public Health (MMSPH) and the Doctor of Public Health (Dr.P.H.), International Masters for Healt ...

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 ...

. In 2018, she completed her PhD at the

University of the Sunshine Coast The University of the Sunshine Coast (UniSC) is a public university based on the Sunshine Coast, Queensland, Australia. After opening with 524 students in 1996 as the Sunshine Coast University College, it was later renamed the University of the ...

. She became the manager of its Sports Elite and Education Dual (SEED) program, which enabled elite athletes with a disability to combine study with high performance training and competition, in 2016. Bridie is engaged to long-term partner and fellow Paralympian Chris Bond. The couple had their first child in late 2019. Her brother Michael works on channel 10's The Project

Wheelchair basketball

When she was 15, Kean was encouraged to take up wheelchair basketball by

Liesl Tesch Liesl Dorothy Tesch AM (born 17 May 1969) is an Australian wheelchair basketball player, sailor, and politician. She is a Labor Party member of the New South Wales Legislative Assembly, representing Gosford since the 2017 Gosford state by-el ...

. She was invited to a training camp, and started playing the sport on the state and national level in 2003. In 2011/2012, the

Australian Sports Commission The Australian Sports Commission (ASC) is the Australian Government commission responsible for supporting and investing in sport in Australia. The Commission incorporates the Australian Institute of Sport. From 2018 to 2022, it was known as Sp ...

gave her a A$17,000 grant as part of their Direct Athlete Support (DAS) program. A

4 point player 4-point player is a disability sport classification for wheelchair basketball. Players in this class have normal trunk function but have a reduced level of functioning in one or both of their lower limbs. They may have difficulty with sideways mov ...

, she plays as a

forward Forward is a relative direction, the opposite of backward. Forward may also refer to: People * Forward (surname) Sports * Forward (association football) * Forward (basketball), including: ** Point forward ** Power forward (basketball) ** Sm ...

University

Kean had a wheelchair basketball scholarship with the

University of Illinois at Urbana–Champaign The University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign (U of I, Illinois, University of Illinois, or UIUC) is a public land-grant research university in Illinois in the twin cities of Champaign and Urbana. It is the flagship institution of the Universit ...

that ended in 2010.

Club

Kean made her

Women's National Wheelchair Basketball League The Australia Women's National Wheelchair Basketball League (WNWBL) is a women's semi-professional wheelchair basketball league in Australia. Teams The league currently has six teams: Sydney University Flames The Sydney University Flames, ...

(WNWBL) debut in 2007. In 2012, she played club basketball for the Brisbane-based Minecraft Comets. That season, she was the team's captain. In September 2012, she played for

Hamburger SV Hamburger Sport-Verein e.V. (), commonly known as Hamburger SV () or Hamburg (), is a German sports club based in Hamburg, with its largest branch being its football section. Though the current HSV was founded in June 1919 from a merger of three ...

, which returned to Germany's top league after a two-season absence. Hamburger SV won the national championship for the eighth time in 2013. In 2014 she returned to Australia, where she spearheaded the Minecraft Comets to their first ever national title win, which was clinched by a crucial

three point field goal A three-point field goal (also 3-pointer, three, or trey) is a field goal in a basketball game made from beyond the three-point line, a designated arc surrounding the basket. A successful attempt is worth three points, in contrast to the two po ...

by Kean in the final stages.

National team

She made her national team debut in 2007 when she competed in the IWBF Qualification tournament. She was selected to represent Australia at the 2009 Four Nations tournament in Canada, one of six players who played for the Dandenong Rangers in the WNWBL. In July 2010, she played in a three-game test series against Germany. In 2010, she was a member of the team that played in the Osaka Cup. She represented Australia at the 2010 World Championships where her team finished fourth.

Paralympics

She was part of the bronze medal-winning

Australia women's national wheelchair basketball team The Australia women's national wheelchair basketball team is the women's wheelchair basketball side that represents Australia in international competitions. The team is known as the Gliders. The team hasn't won a gold medal for Australia since i ...

, known as the Gliders, at the

. Her team defeated Canada 53–47 in earning their medal. She said of her team's 2008 performance, "We worked together as a team really well and our medal is a credit to a lot of hard work and dedication." In October 2011, she was named as part of the senior national squad that would compete at the Paralympic qualifying tournament for the

in London. She was the captain of the Gliders at the 2012 Summer Paralympics. In the gold medal game against Germany, she played 13:02 minutes. Her team lost 44–58, but earned a silver medal. She scored 1 point and had four rebounds in the game.

Canoeing

The Gliders failed to qualify for 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 ...

Rio de Janeiro Rio de Janeiro ( , , ; literally 'River of January'), or simply Rio, is the capital of the state of the same name, Brazil's third-most populous state, and the second-most populous city in Brazil, after São Paulo. Listed by the GaWC as a b ...

. Kean took up canoeing, coached by Gayle Mayes, who represented

Australia at the 1992 Summer Olympics Australia competed at the 1992 Summer Olympics in Barcelona, Spain. Australian athletes have competed in every Summer Olympic Games of the modern era. 279 competitors, 187 men and 92 women, took part in 153 events in 25 sports. Medalists Gold ...

Barcelona Barcelona ( , , ) is a city on the coast of northeastern Spain. It is the capital and largest city of the autonomous community of Catalonia, as well as the second most populous municipality of Spain. With a population of 1.6 million within ci ...

. With her No Limits teammates from

Mooloolaba, Queensland Mooloolaba is a coastal suburb of Maroochydore in the Sunshine Coast Region, Queensland, Australia. It is located north of the state capital, Brisbane, and is part of the Maroochydore urban centre. In the , Mooloolaba had a population of 7,730 ...

, she won gold in the Para Mixed V12 500m and the Para Mixed V6 1000m finals in at the IVF

Va'a Vaʻa is a word in Samoan, Hawaiian and Tahitian which means 'boat', 'canoe' or 'ship'. A larger traditional seagoing vessel for long-distance voyages is referred to as ''vaʻa tele'' (big ship). The term ''alia'' is also used for larger vessel ...

World Elite and Club Sprints Championships at Lake Kawana on the Sunshine Coast.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Kean, Bridie 1987 births Amputee category Paralympic competitors Australian amputees Illinois Fighting Illini Paralympic athletes Living people Paralympic bronze medalists for Australia Paralympic silver medalists for Australia Paralympic wheelchair basketball players for Australia Wheelchair basketball players at the 2008 Summer Paralympics Wheelchair basketball players at the 2012 Summer Paralympics Medalists at the 2008 Summer Paralympics Medalists at the 2012 Summer Paralympics Australian women's wheelchair basketball players Forwards (basketball) Paralympic medalists in wheelchair basketball Sportswomen from Victoria (state) Sportspeople from Melbourne Australian expatriate sportspeople in the United States People from Parkdale, Victoria