Sarah Paton (born 28 October 1986) is an Australian former

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 ...

who specialized in long-distance freestyle events. She is the sister of swimmer

Siobhan Paton Siobhan Bethany Paton, OAM (born 28 August 1983) is an Australian Paralympic swimmer who was born in Sydney. Paton has had an intellectual disability from birth which was a consequence a lack of oxygen. Paton decided to become a swimmer after ...

, who won six gold medals at the

2000 Summer Paralympics The 2000 Summer Paralympic Games or the XI Summer Paralympics were held in Sydney, New South Wales, Australia, between 18 and 29 October. The Sydney Paralympics was last time that the Summer Paralympics which were organized by two different ...

, and holds 13 world records in S14 category (intellectual disability). Paton is also a member of Telopea Swim Club, and is coached and trained by Mark Skimming. Paton qualified for the women's 800-metre freestyle at the

2004 Summer Olympics The 2004 Summer Olympics ( el, Θερινοί Ολυμπιακοί Αγώνες 2004, ), officially the Games of the XXVIII Olympiad ( el, Αγώνες της 28ης Ολυμπιάδας, ) and also known as Athens 2004 ( el, Αθήνα 2004), ...

Athens Athens ( ; el, Αθήνα, Athína ; grc, Ἀθῆναι, Athênai (pl.) ) is both the capital and largest city of Greece. With a population close to four million, it is also the seventh largest city in the European Union. Athens dominates ...

, by clearing a FINA A-standard entry time of 8:34.70 from the Olympic trials 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 ...

. She challenged seven other swimmers on the second heat, including former bronze medalist

Jana Henke Jana Henke (born 1 October 1973 in Löbau, Saxony) is a former freestyle swimmer from Germany, who won the bronze medal in the 800 m freestyle at the 1992 Summer Olympics in Barcelona, Spain. She competed in three Summer Olympics The S ...

of Germany and top medal favorite

Diana Munz Diana Marie Munz (born June 19, 1982), later known by her married name Diana DePetro, is an American former competition swimming (sport), swimmer and Olympic champion from Moreland Hills, Ohio. She represented the United States at the 2000 Summe ...

of the United States. Paton cruised to fourth place by five seconds behind Munz in 8:35.81, but missed the final by more than a second, as she placed ninth overall in the preliminaries. Shortly after the Olympics, Paton finished fourth behind her teammate

Melissa Gorman Melissa Anne Gorman (born 11 December 1985) is an Australian long-distance swimmer who specialises in long-distance freestyle and open-water events. Career At the 2006 Commonwealth Games, Gorman won a silver medal in the 800 m freestyle. At ...

, but dipped under 8:30 barrier in the same distance at the FINA World Short Course Swimming Championships in Indianapolis, Indiana, with a time of 8:25.38. In 2005, Paton won her first ever individual career title in the 1500 m freestyle at the Australian long course championships in Sydney, in a qualifying entry time of 16:17.20. Paton's effort and triumph from the trials moved her up to third in the world rankings for the said distance. At the

FINA World Championships The FINA World Championships or World Aquatics Championships are the World Championships for aquatics sports: swimming, diving, high diving, open water swimming, artistic swimming, and water polo. They are run by FINA, and all swimming events ar ...

in Montreal, Canada, Paton missed the final with a tenth-place finish in the 1500-metre freestyle, outside her entry time of 16:37.18. In 2006, Paton moved to England to train and take up an academic scholarship with a degree in sports performance at the

University of Bath (Virgil, Georgics II) , mottoeng = Learn the culture proper to each after its kind , established = 1886 (Merchant Venturers Technical College) 1960 (Bristol College of Science and Technology) 1966 (Bath University of Technology) 1971 (univ ...

. She also coaches with swimmer

Aaron Moores Aaron Moores (born 16 May 1994) is a British Paralympic swimmer competing in the S14 category, mainly in the backstroke and breaststroke. In 2010 he set a new British record in his class for the 50m breaststroke and after qualifying for the 2 ...

, who later won a silver medal in the 100-metre backstroke (S14) 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 London.

References

External links

Profile – Australian Olympic Team

Player Bio – Team Bath
{{DEFAULTSORT:Paton, Sarah 1986 births Living people Alumni of the University of Bath Olympic swimmers for Australia Swimmers at the 2004 Summer Olympics Australian expatriate sportspeople in England Australian female freestyle swimmers People from Nowra Sportswomen from New South Wales 21st-century Australian women