Rene Hardenbol, OAM (born 17 May 1971) is an Australian swimmer with an intellectual disability. At the 1992 Paralympic Games for Persons with Mental Handicap, he won five gold medals and two silver medals.
Personal
He was born on 17 May 1971 in Western Australia. At the age of 12 months, he was diagnosed with behavioural
autism
The autism spectrum, often referred to as just autism or in the context of a professional diagnosis autism spectrum disorder (ASD) or autism spectrum condition (ASC), is a neurodevelopmental condition (or conditions) characterized by difficulti ...
. In January 1983, his parents sent him to live in the
Netherlands
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with his maternal grandmother and to attend the De Zevens-sprong School for children with special needs. Whilst in the Netherlands he was encouraged to take up swimming.
Swimming career
At age 13, after he returned to Australia, he was coached by Barbara Evans at the Aqua Club between 1984 and 1985. before joining the Aqua Club of which he was made a life member in 1994. From 1986, he was coached by George Brown at the Victoria Park/Carlisle Swimming Club. In 1988, he won three gold and a silver medal at the Special Olympic Games in
Sydney
Sydney ( ) is the capital city of the state of New South Wales, and the most populous city in both Australia and Oceania. Located on Australia's east coast, the metropolis surrounds Sydney Harbour and extends about towards the Blue Mountain ...
,
New South Wales
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. At the 1st World Games for Athletes with an Intellectual Disability in
Härnösand
Härnösand () is a locality and the seat of Härnösand Municipality in Västernorrland County, Sweden with 17,556 inhabitants in 2010. It is called "the gate to the High Coast" because of the world heritage landscape just a few miles north of Hà ...
,
Sweden
Sweden, formally the Kingdom of Sweden,The United Nations Group of Experts on Geographical Names states that the country's formal name is the Kingdom of SwedenUNGEGN World Geographical Names, Sweden./ref> is a Nordic country located on ...
, he won three gold, two silver and five bronze medals. He set world record times in the 400m freestyle, 200m freestyle and 200m backstroke.
At the 1992 Paralympic Games for Persons with Mental Handicap,
Madrid
Madrid ( , ) is the capital and most populous city of Spain. The city has almost 3.4 million inhabitants and a metropolitan area population of approximately 6.7 million. It is the second-largest city in the European Union (EU), and ...
,
Spain
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, he won five gold medals in the Men's 200 m Backstroke, Men's 4 x 50 m Freestyle Relay, Men's 4 × 100 m Freestyle Relay, Men's 4 x 50 m Medley Relay, Men's 4 × 100 m Medley Relay and two silver medals in the Men's 100 m Freestyle and Men's 200 m Breaststroke.
He set a world record in the 200m Backstroke. After the Games, he was offered 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 ...
Athlete with a Disability scholarship.
He competed at the 1994
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 ...
in
Malta
Malta ( , , ), officially the Republic of Malta ( mt, Repubblika ta' Malta ), is an island country in the Mediterranean Sea. It consists of an archipelago, between Italy and Libya, and is often considered a part of Southern Europe. It lies ...
and won three gold medals in the Men's 50m Backstroke S14, Men's 50m Breaststroke SB14, Men's 50m Freestyle S14 and a silver medal in the Men's 100 m Freestyle S14. He retired from Paralympic swimming at the end of 1994.
In 2014, he is a member of the Somerset Masters Swimming Club. He has also been a member of a four-person team who successfully completed the
Rottnest Channel Swim
The Rottnest Channel Swim is an annual open water swimming event from Cottesloe Beach through Gage Roads to Rottnest Island, off the coast of Western Australia, near Perth.
Format
The distance is and it is one of the largest open water s ...
.
Recognition
*1989 - Comment News Senior Sports Star of the Year
*1991 - City of Gosnells Certificate of Merit for Meritorious Achievement in the field of Swimming
*1993 - OAM for service to sport as a gold medallist at the Madrid 1992 Paralympic Games.
*1994 - Caltex Sports Person of the Year, Special Olympics category
*2000 -
Australian Sports Medal
The Australian Sports Medal is an award given to recognise achievements in Australian sport to commemorate Australian participation in major sporting events. Original recipients of the award included competitors, coaches, sports scientists, offi ...
*2014 -
Victoria Park Victoria Park may refer to:
Places Australia
* Victoria Park Nature Reserve, a protected area in Northern Rivers region, New South Wales
* Victoria Park, Adelaide, a park and racecourse
* Victoria Park, Brisbane, a public park and former golf ...