Sandra Yaxley, OAM is a

cerebral palsy Cerebral palsy (CP) is a group of movement disorders that appear in early childhood. Signs and symptoms vary among people and over time, but include poor coordination, stiff muscles, weak muscles, and tremors. There may be problems with sensa ...

Australian Paralympic swimmer. At the

1988 Seoul Games The 1988 Summer Olympics (), officially known as the Games of the XXIV Olympiad () and commonly known as Seoul 1988 ( ko, 서울 1988, Seoul Cheon gubaek palsip-pal), was an international multi-sport event held from 17 September to 2 October ...

, she won a gold medal in the Women's 100 m Freestyle C6 and a silver medal in the Women's 50 m Backstroke C6. At the

1992 Barcelona Games The 1992 Summer Olympics ( es, Juegos Olímpicos de Verano de 1992, ca, Jocs Olímpics d'estiu de 1992), officially known as the Games of the XXV Olympiad ( es, Juegos de la XXV Olimpiada, ca, Jocs de la XXV Olimpíada) and commonly known as ...

, she won a gold medal in the Women's 4x50 m Freestyle S1–6 event and a bronze medal in the Women's 100 m Freestyle S6 event. She retired from swimming after the 1992 Paralympics but took up coaching disabled and able-bodied swimmers. She was coached by Wayne De Lacy. Yaxley was originally from

Tasmania ) , nickname = , image_map = Tasmania in Australia.svg , map_caption = Location of Tasmania in AustraliaCoordinates: , subdivision_type = Country , subdi ...

and moved to

Perth, Western Australia Perth is the capital and largest city of the Australian state of Western Australia. It is the fourth most populous city in Australia and Oceania, with a population of 2.1 million (80% of the state) living in Greater Perth in 2020. Perth is ...

at an early age. She began swimming when she was four as a form of rehabilitation. She attended Swanbourne Senior High School. In 2000, she was awarded the Australian Sports Medal and in 2013 inducted into Swimming Western Australia Hall of Fame at the age of 44. Yaxley's motto is "Let me try and, if I can't do it, I'll know, but if I can do it, then watch out world."

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Yaxley, Sandra Female Paralympic swimmers for Australia Swimmers at the 1988 Summer Paralympics Swimmers at the 1992 Summer Paralympics Paralympic gold medalists for Australia Paralympic silver medalists for Australia Paralympic bronze medalists for Australia Recipients of the Medal of the Order of Australia Recipients of the Australian Sports Medal Living people Medalists at the 1988 Summer Paralympics Medalists at the 1992 Summer Paralympics Cerebral Palsy category Paralympic competitors Swimmers with cerebral palsy Sportswomen from Western Australia Swimmers from Perth, Western Australia 1968 births Paralympic medalists in swimming Australian female freestyle swimmers Australian female backstroke swimmers S6-classified para swimmers