Katja Dedekind (born 17 August 2001) is an Australian Paralympic vision-impaired

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 ...

and goalball player. She won a bronze medal at the 2016 Rio Paralympic Games and two bronze medals at the

2020 Tokyo Paralympic Games The , branded as the Tokyo 2020 Paralympic Games, was 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 Inter ...

Personal life

Dedekind was born 17 August 2001 in

Durban Durban ( ) ( zu, eThekwini, from meaning 'the port' also called zu, eZibubulungwini for the mountain range that terminates in the area), nicknamed ''Durbs'',Ishani ChettyCity nicknames in SA and across the worldArticle on ''news24.com'' from ...

, South Africa. She has a twin brother. From congenital cataracts and

amblyopia Amblyopia, also called lazy eye, is a disorder of sight in which the brain fails to fully process input from one eye and over time favors the other eye. It results in decreased vision in an eye that typically appears normal in other aspects. Amb ...

, she is blind in the right eye and has limited vision in the left eye. Previously from Kenmore, Brisbane, Dedekind now lives on the

Sunshine Coast Sunshine Coast may refer to: * Sunshine Coast, Queensland, Australia **Sunshine Coast Region, a local government area of Queensland named after the region **Sunshine Coast Stadium * Sunshine Coast (British Columbia), geographic subregion of the Br ...

having graduated from

Matthew Flinders Anglican College Matthew Flinders Anglican College (MFAC) is an independent Anglican co-educational primary and secondary day school located in Buderim, approximately north of Brisbane, on the Sunshine Coast of Queensland, Australia. Founded in 1990 and name ...

, Buderim, in 2019. In March 2018, Dedekind had the honour of being a

Queen's Baton Relay The Queen's Baton Relay is a relay around the world held prior to the beginning of the Commonwealth Games. The Baton carries a message from the Head of the Commonwealth, currently King Charles III. The Relay traditionally begins at Buckingha ...

runner as one of 3500 Australians for the

XXI 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 of Nations, Commonwealth that were held on the Gold Coast, Q ...

. Dedekind's motto is "If it doesn't challenge you, it doesn't change you".

Sporting career

Dedekind competes in swimming and goalball. In swimming, she is classified as S13. Dedekind took up goalball in 2012 after attending a 'come and try' day. At the 2012, Australian Goalball Championships in Melbourne, she was awarded the title 'Best Defensive Junior Player' She was a member of the winning team at the 2013 Australian Invitational Cup in Sydney. Dedekind took up swimming at an early age with her twin brother, but did not start competing until 2012. At the 2015 Swimming Queensland Sprint Championships, she was awarded the 'Swimmer of the Meet' award for swimmers with a disability. In 2015, she won three gold and five silver medals at the 2015 SSA Pacific School Games. At 2016

Australian Swimming Championships The Australian Swimming Championships is the national Swimming championships for Australia. They are organised by Swimming Australia and separate championships are held annually in both long course (50m) and short course (25m) pools. The two mee ...

, she won the bronze medal in the women's 200 m freestyle and finished fifth women's 50 m backstroke and women's 50 m butterfly. She is a member of the UQ Swim Club and was coached by David Heyden. In 2016, Dedekind was selected to represent Australia at the 2016 Rio Paralympic Games. She competed in four events and achieved one podium finish. She won a bronze medal in the women's 100 m backstroke S13. She achieved seventh in 400 m freestyle S13. but didn't progress to the finals in 50 m freestyle S13, 100 m freestyle S13 and 100 m freestyle S13. In August 2018 at the Pan Pacific Para Swimming Championships in Cairns, Queensland, just before her seventeenth birthday, Dedekind took gold with her fastest competitive time for the 100 m backstroke. She also achieved bronze in the women’s 200 m individual medley for the SM12/13 classification, and silver in the 400 m freestyle S13. She competed at the

2019 World Para Swimming Championships The 2019 World Para Swimming Championships is the 2019 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 continent ...

in London in four events but did not medal. Dedekind is a member of the Australian Dolphins swim team. She was coached by Nathan Doyle while preparing for the

2020 Paralympic Games 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 Paralymp ...

in Tokyo. At the games, Dedekind won a bronze medal in the Women's 100 m backstroke S13 with a time of 1:06.49, after achieving a personal best time of 1:07.38 in the Heats. She also won a bronze medal competing in the Women's 400 m freestyle S13. Her time of 4:35.87 was 12 seconds behind the winner, Anna Stetsenko, of Ukraine. Dedekind also competed in the 50 m freestyle S13 where she qualified for the finals but could only manage fourth in the final. At 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 ...

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, Dedekind won three medals - gold in the Women's 50 m Freestyle S13 and silver in the Women's 100 m Backstroke S13 and Women's 400 m Freestyle S13. 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 ...

in Birmingham, Dedekind won the gold medal in Women's 50 m freestyle S13 in a world record time. About June 2022, Dedekind changed clubs from SC Spartans with coach Nathan Doyle to the

Yeronga Yeronga is a southern riverside suburb in the City of Brisbane, Queensland, Australia. In the , Yeronga had a population of 6,535 people. Geography The suburb is bounded to the west and north by the Brisbane River and to the south-east by ...

Park Swim Club with coaches

Robert van der Zant Robert Cornelius van der Zant (born 2 February 1975) is a former medley swimmer who competed for Australia at the 2000 Summer Olympics The 2000 Summer Olympics, officially the Games of the XXVII Olympiad and also known as Sydney 2000 (D ...

and Kate Sparkes.

Recognition

* 2016 - Junior Female Athlete of the Year,

Sporting Wheelies and Disabled Association The Sporting Wheelies and Disabled Association is the peak body for sport, recreation and fitness for people with a physical disability or visual impairment, vision impairment in the Australian state of Queensland. The not-for-profit organisatio ...

. *2021 - University of the Sunshine Coast Sportsperson of the Year *2022 - Queensland Sport Athlete with a Disability

References

External links

* * * *
True Story Tuesday: Katja Dedekind & Dave Heyden
{{DEFAULTSORT:Dedekind, Katja 2001 births Living people Female Paralympic swimmers of Australia Swimmers at the 2016 Summer Paralympics Swimmers at the 2020 Summer Paralympics Swimmers at the 2022 Commonwealth Games Paralympic bronze medalists for Australia Medalists at the 2016 Summer Paralympics Medalists at the 2020 Summer Paralympics Medalists at the World Para Swimming Championships Commonwealth Games medallists in swimming Commonwealth Games gold medallists for Australia S13-classified Paralympic swimmers Australian blind people Paralympic medalists in swimming Australian female backstroke swimmers Australian female freestyle swimmers 21st-century Australian women