Marayke Caroline Jonkers (born 13 September 1981) is a retired Australian Paralympic swimmer 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 ...

. She won two bronze medals at the

2004 Athens Paralympics ) , nations = 136 , athletes = 3,806 , events = 519 in 19 sports , opening = 17 September , closing = 28 September , opened_by = President Costis Stephanopoulos , cauldron = Georgios Toptsis , stadium = Olympic ...

and a silver medal at the

2008 Beijing 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 f ...

, along with a bronze medal at the 2010 Budapest ITU Triathlon World Championships.

Personal

Jonkers was born on 13 September 1981 in

Hobart Hobart ( ; Nuennonne/Palawa kani: ''nipaluna'') is the capital and most populous city of the Australian island state of Tasmania. Home to almost half of all Tasmanians, it is the least-populated Australian state capital city, and second-small ...

, and moved to

Queensland ) , nickname = Sunshine State , image_map = Queensland in Australia.svg , map_caption = Location of Queensland in Australia , subdivision_type = Country , subdivision_name = Australia , established_title = Before federation , established_ ...

as a baby. She lives in 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 ...

of Queensland. She became a paraplegic due to a car accident at the age of eight months. She studied Communications and Social Science 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 ...

where she received two bachelor's degrees. She works as a motivational speaker. In 2009, she became a graduate employment consultant for STEPS Disability Qld. As part of her university studies, she completed an internship with the

Australian Broadcasting Corporation The Australian Broadcasting Corporation (ABC) is the national broadcaster of Australia. It is principally funded by direct grants from the Australian Government and is administered by a government-appointed board. The ABC is a publicly-own ...

working in ABC Online and the Stateline television show. She has had stories published in

The Sunshine Coast Daily The Sunshine Coast Daily is an online newspaper specifically serving the Sunshine Coast region of Queensland, Australia. It is owned by News Corp Australia. It was originally founded as a print newspaper, however since 2020 the publication ...

and The Weekender. She answered fashion questions in the April 2008 edition of Link Magazine. She is the president of People with Disabilities Australia.

Sporting career

In swimming, Jonkers competed in the

S5 (classification) S5, SB4, SM5 are disability swimming classifications used for categorizing swimmers based on their level of disability. The class includes people with a moderate level of disability, and includes people with full use of their arms and hands, but l ...

for freestyle, butterfly and backstroke as well as the SM4 individual medley and SB3 breaststroke events. She represents the Maroochydore Swimming Club at national competitions. Jonkers broke more than 70 Australian national swimming records in the

breaststroke Breaststroke is a swimming style in which the swimmer is on their chest and the torso does not rotate. It is the most popular recreational style due to the swimmer's head being out of the water a large portion of the time, and that it can be s ...

, individual medley, freestyle and butterfly. She also set a world record for the 100 m butterfly event. Jonkers' began representing her state of Queensland at the age of twelve, and first represented Australia in 1999, winning a gold medal in that year's

FESPIC Games The FESPIC Games or the Far East and South Pacific Games for the Disabled, was a multi-sport event in Asia and the South Pacific region which is considered to be a precursor to the Asian Para Games, as two of its edition games in 1999 (7th) and ...

. Her first Paralympics was the

2000 Sydney Games The 2000 Summer Olympics, officially the Games of the XXVII Olympiad and also known as Sydney 2000 (Dharug: ''Gadigal 2000''), the Millennium Olympic Games or the Games of the New Millennium, was an international multi-sport event held from 1 ...

, where she placed fourth and sixth. At the 2002

IPC Swimming World Championships The World Para Swimming Championships, known before 30 November 2016 as the IPC Swimming World Championships, are the world championships for swimming where athletes with a disability compete. They are organised by the International Paralympic C ...

, she won two swimming silver medals. At the

, Jonkers won two swimming bronze medals in the Women's 150 m Individual Medley SM4 and Women's 50 m Breaststroke SB3 events. She competed at the

, where she was one of Australia's oldest swimmers. She won a silver medal at the Games in the Women's 150 m Individual Medley SM4 event with a time of 3:28.88. In 2009, she set a world record in the 150 m individual medley at Australia's national short course championships held in

. In 2010, she competed at the Queensland Swimming Age Multi Class Championships. She competed in the women's 100 m Breaststroke event, finishing third with a time of 02:50.59. In 2010, at the age of 30, she also competed at the 2010 Telstra Australian Championships the Over 12 years 150 m Medley event where she made the final finished with a time of 4:07.51. She also made the finals in the Over 12 years 50 m Breaststroke event. She was the Australian flag-bearer for the

2010 IPC Swimming World Championships The 2010 IPC Swimming World Championships was an international swimming competition, the biggest meet for athletes with a disability since the 2008 Summer Paralympics. It was held in Eindhoven, Netherlands and lasted from 14 to 21 August. Venue ...

Eindhoven Eindhoven () is a city and municipality in the Netherlands, located in the southern province of North Brabant of which it is its largest. With a population of 238,326 on 1 January 2022, Jonkers' first paratriathlon competition was as social event related to the

2009 ITU Triathlon World Championships The 2009 ITU World Championship Series was a series of seven triathlon events leading to a Grand Final held in Gold Coast, Queensland, Australia in September 2009. The series was organised under the auspices of the world governing body of triath ...

in 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 ...

. She became Australia's first female paratriathlete and paratriathlon medallist when she competed in the 2010 championships in

Budapest Budapest (, ; ) is the capital and most populous city of Hungary. It is the ninth-largest city in the European Union by population within city limits and the second-largest city on the Danube river; the city has an estimated population ...

, winning a bronze medal in the TRI-1 classification in a time of 2:12:40, eleven minutes better than her previous personal best. She had an

Australian Institute of Sport The Australian Institute of Sport (AIS) is a high performance sports training institution in Australia. The Institute's headquarters were opened in 1981 and are situated in the northern suburb of Bruce, Canberra. The AIS is a division of the ...

Paralympic swimming scholarship. On 9 December 2011, she announced her retirement from competitive swimming due to thoracic outlet syndrome.

Recognition

Jonkers received an Australian Sports Medal in 2000. At the age of 23, she was named the 2005 Queensland Young Achiever by premier Peter Beattie. In 2007, she was named the inaugural winner of ''Cosmopolitan'' magazine's "fun fearless female award" recognising Australia's most inspirational women who are encouraging others to pursue their dreams. She was featured on page 76 of ''

Cosmopolitan Cosmopolitan may refer to: Food and drink * Cosmopolitan (cocktail), also known as a "Cosmo" History * Rootless cosmopolitan, a Soviet derogatory epithet during Joseph Stalin's anti-Semitic campaign of 1949–1953 Hotels and resorts * Cosmopoli ...

'' the month that she was recognised. She used her prize money to set up the "Sporting Dreams Fund", which helps people with disabilities to develop their sporting talents. In 2010, she was named the Sporting Wheelie of the Year by the

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 ...

. In 2011, she was an

Australia Day Australia Day is the official national day of Australia. Observed annually on 26 January, it marks the 1788 landing of the First Fleet at Sydney Cove and raising of the Union Flag by Arthur Phillip following days of exploration of Port Ja ...

Ambassador.

References

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Jonkers, Marayke Female Paralympic swimmers for Australia Australian female triathletes Paratriathletes Swimmers at the 2000 Summer Paralympics Swimmers at the 2004 Summer Paralympics Swimmers at the 2008 Summer Paralympics Medalists at the 2004 Summer Paralympics Medalists at the 2008 Summer Paralympics Paralympic silver medalists for Australia Paralympic bronze medalists for Australia Wheelchair category Paralympic competitors Australian Institute of Sport Paralympic swimmers People with paraplegia Sportswomen from Tasmania Sportswomen from Queensland University of the Sunshine Coast alumni Recipients of the Australian Sports Medal 1981 births Living people Medalists at the World Para Swimming Championships Paralympic medalists in swimming Australian female medley swimmers Australian female breaststroke swimmers S5-classified para swimmers 21st-century Australian women