Jack Swift (born 8 August 1985) is an Australian athletics competitor and

paratriathlete Para triathlon is a variant of the triathlon for athletes with a physical disability. The sport is governed by World Triathlon (TRI) (formerly known as ITU), and was first held as a Paralympics, Paralympic event at the 2016 Summer Paralympics in Rio ...

. He was selected to represent

Australia Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a Sovereign state, sovereign country comprising the mainland of the Australia (continent), Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous List of islands of Australia, sma ...

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 ...

in athletics in the 400m and 4 × 100 m events.

Personal

Swift was born on 8 August 1985, and is from the Melbourne suburb of

Ivanhoe ''Ivanhoe: A Romance'' () by Walter Scott is a historical novel published in three volumes, in 1819, as one of the Waverley novels. Set in England in the Middle Ages, this novel marked a shift away from Scott’s prior practice of setting st ...

in Victoria. He attended Marcellin College, and played

Australian rules football Australian football, also called Australian rules football or Aussie rules, or more simply football or footy, is a contact sport played between two teams of 18 players on an oval field, often a modified cricket ground. Points are scored by k ...

while at school. In 2006, Swift lost the lower part of his right leg when he was twenty-one years old after an accident while at work, "when a 14-tonne excavator fell and crushed his right leg". Prior to his accident, he was a plumber's labourer. He was a finalist for the 2011 Victorian '' Cleo'' Bachelor of the Year. In February 2011, he was on the cover of Australian '' Men's Health''. He pursued a degree in exercise-science from Deakin University. , he works as a personal trainer.

Athletics

Swift competes in the T44 athletics classification. He became involved with athletics as a form of personal mental health improvement following his accident, and had not competed in athletics prior to his accident. 020912 - Jack Swift - 3b - 2012 Summer Paralympics (01)

020912 - Jack Swift - 3b - 2012 Summer Paralympics (01)

In 2011, Swift was training as much as twenty-five hours a week. In the 2011 Victorian Athletic League, he participated in the Athletes With a Disability 120m event, the only event open to athletes with disability during the season. In 2011, he was an Australian national ambulant 100m and 200m finalist. At the 2011 Australian Athletics Championships, he finished third in the 200m wheelchair race final. He assisted in unveiling the 2012 Australian Paralympic athletics uniform. He did this at the Mercedes-Benz Fashion Week Australia Spring/Summer 2012/13 on day two at Sydney's Overseas Passenger Terminal on 1 May 2012. He was selected to represent

at the

in athletics in the 400m and 4 × 100 m events. He did not medal at the 2012 Games.

Paratriathlon

In April 2013, Swift raced his first sprint distance triathlon. Based on his performance in this race, he was selected in Australia's 2013 ITU Triathlon World Championships paratriathlon team. Like several other selected Australian athletes, he did not race. Swift competed in the 2014 Australian and Oceania Paratriathlon Championships, placing 2nd in the TRI-5 (moderate leg impairment) classification. He also placed second TRI-5 in the ITU World Paratriathlon event in Elwood. At the

2014 ITU World Triathlon Series The 2014 ITU World Triathlon Series was a series of eight World Championship Triathlon events that lead up to a Grand Final held in Edmonton, Alberta, Canada. The Series was organised under the auspices of the world governing body of triathlon, th ...

Final in Edmonton, Canada, he finished eleventh in the Men's PT4. In January 2015, Swift won the Oceania Paratriathlon Championships PT4 event at

Penrith, New South Wales Penrith is a city in New South Wales, Australia, located in Greater Western Sydney, 55 kilometres (31 mi) west of the Sydney central business district on the banks of the Nepean River, on the outskirts of the Cumberland Plain. Its elevati ...

. At the 2015 World Triathlon Series Final in Chicago, Swift finished twelfth in the Men's PT4. Swift now aims to qualify for

paratriathlon at the 2016 Summer Paralympics The paratriathlon competitions at the 2016 Summer Paralympics in Rio de Janeiro took place from 10–12 September 2016 at Fort Copacabana. Sixty athletes competed across two genders, and six events. This was the first Paralympic Games to feat ...

References

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Swift, Jack Paralympic athletes of Australia Living people 1985 births Athletes (track and field) at the 2012 Summer Paralympics Deakin University alumni Paratriathletes of Australia Australian male triathletes Australian male sprinters