Tiffany Thomas Kane, (born 9 August 2001) is a retired Australian Paralympic swimmer. She represented Australia at the

2016 Rio Paralympics ) , nations = 159 , athletes = 4,342 , opening = 7 September , closing = 18 September , opened_by = President Michel Temer , cauldron = Clodoaldo Silva , events = 528 in 22 sports , stadium = Maracanã , sum ...

, winning a gold and three bronze medals, and at the

2020 Tokyo Paralympics 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 Paralympic ...

, winning a further two bronze medals.

Personal

Thomas Kane was born on 9 August 2001 with

hypochondroplasia Hypochondroplasia (HCH) is a developmental disorder caused by an autosomal dominant genetic defect in the fibroblast growth factor receptor 3 gene (''FGFR3'') that results in a disproportionately short stature, micromeliaupdate 2013 and a head tha ...

, a developmental disorder causing short stature. She attended

Ravenswood School for Girls , motto_translation = Always towards better things , established = 1901 , type = Independent, day and boarding , denomination = Uniting Church , slogan = Ravenswood widens her world , principal = Anne Johnstone , founder ...

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 ) , nickname = , image_map = New South Wales in Australia.svg , map_caption = Location of New South Wales in AustraliaCoordinates: , subdivision_type = Country , subdivision_name = Australia , established_title = Before federation , es ...

Career

Thomas Kane took up swimming at the age of 3. She is an S6 swimmer. In 2015, she trains under Lach Falvey at Ravenswood Swim Club, the same club as dual world champion and Olympic silver medallist

James Magnussen James Magnussen (born 11 April 1991) is a retired Australian swimmer and Olympic medallist. He was the 2011 and 2013 100-metre freestyle world champion, and holds the record for the fifth fastest swim in history in the 100-metre freestyle, wi ...

. She was the youngest Australian swimmer selected to compete at the

2015 IPC Swimming World Championships The 2015 IPC Swimming World Championships was an international swimming competition for athletes with a disability. It was held in Glasgow, United Kingdom and took place from 13 to 19 July. Around 580 athletes from around 70 countries competed at ...

Glasgow Glasgow ( ; sco, Glesca or ; gd, Glaschu ) is the most populous city in Scotland and the fourth-most populous city in the United Kingdom, as well as being the 27th largest city by population in Europe. In 2020, it had an estimated popul ...

Scotland Scotland (, ) is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. Covering the northern third of the island of Great Britain, mainland Scotland has a border with England to the southeast and is otherwise surrounded by the Atlantic Ocean to the ...

after breaking world records at the

2015 Australian Swimming Championships The 2015 Australian Swimming Championships were held from 3 to 10 April 2015 at the Sydney Olympic Park Aquatic Centre in Sydney, New South Wales. They doubled up as the national trials for the 2015 World Aquatics Championships in Kazan, Russia, ...

. At the age of 13, at 2015 IPC Swimming Championships, she won a gold medal in the Women's 100m breaststroke SB6 in a world record time of 1:34.95, silver medal in the Women's 50 m Butterfly S6 and bronze medals in the Women's 50 m Freestyle S6 and Women's 100 m Freestyle S6. She finished fifth in the Women's 100m Backstroke S6 and seventh in the Mixed 4x50m Freestyle Relay 20pts. She was awarded

Swimming Australia Swimming Australia is the peak governing body for competitive swimming in Australia. The body has approximately 100,000 registered members nationally in 1100 clubs across the country, which includes swimmers, coaches, officials, administrators ...

's 2015

AIS AIS may refer to: Medicine * Abbreviated Injury Scale, an anatomical-based coding system to classify and describe the severity of injuries * Acute ischemic stroke, the thromboembolic type of stroke * Androgen insensitivity syndrome, an intersex ...

Discovery of the Year Award. In 2015, she is a

New South Wales Institute of Sport The New South Wales Institute of Sport (NSWIS) is a high performance sports training institute located in New South Wales, Australia. The New South Wales government agency provides world leading coaching, performance support and daily training ...

scholarship holder. At the

2016 Australian Swimming Championships The 2016 Australian Swimming Championships were held from 7 to 14 April 2016 at the South Australia Aquatic and Leisure Centre in Adelaide, South Australia. They doubled up as the national trials for the 2016 Summer Olympics and the 2016 Summer Pa ...

Adelaide Adelaide ( ) is the capital city of South Australia, the state's largest city and the fifth-most populous city in Australia. "Adelaide" may refer to either Greater Adelaide (including the Adelaide Hills) or the Adelaide city centre. The dem ...

, Thomas Kane set a world record of 43.06in Women's S6 in winning the Women's 50 breast multi-class event. At the

, Thomas Kane won the gold medal in the Women's 100 m Breaststroke SB6 with Paralympic record time of 1:35.39. She also won bronze medals in the Women's 50 m Freestyle, 50 m Butterfly S6 and 200 m Individual Medley SM6. In reflection on racing at Rio, Thomas Kane says "It's taken everything away. Just to think that I'm here competing for my country, I've just not stopped trying every time. It's just been such a good time and I've enjoyed it every second." She continues to say "I wanted that gold medal in my race; I knew I had to go my best and it’s just such an amazing thing to have around me." Tiffany was officially awarded an Order of Australia medal in January 2017 for her "service to sport" following her accomplishments in Rio de Janeiro the previous year. At the

2018 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 that were held on the Gold Coast, Queensland, Australia, bet ...

, Gold Coast, Thomas Kane finished fourth in two events – Women's S8 50m Freestyle and Women's S7 50m Butterfly. 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 ...

London London is the capital and largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary down to the North Sea, and has been a majo ...

, Thomas Kane won the gold medal in the Women's 100 m Breaststroke SB7 and placed fifth in four other events. At the

, Thomas Kane won bronze medals in the Women's 100 m Breaststroke SB7 (with a time of 1:35.02) and the Women's 200 m Individual Medley SM7 (with a time of 3:03.02). She also swam in the 50 m butterfly S7 but failed to advance to the final. Her retirement was announced through twitter in April 2022.

Recognition

*2015 – Discovery of the Year Award from

*2017 –

Medal of the Order of Australia The Order of Australia is an honour that recognises Australian citizens and other persons for outstanding achievement and service. It was established on 14 February 1975 by Elizabeth II, Queen of Australia, on the advice of the Australian Gove ...

(OAM) *2019 – Swimming Australia Paralympic Program Swimmer of the Year (joint winner with

Lakeisha Patterson Lakeisha Dawn Patterson, (born 5 January 1999) is an Australian Paralympic swimmer. She won medals at the 2014 Commonwealth Games and 2015 IPC Swimming World Championships. At the 2016 Rio Paralympics, she won Australia's first gold medal of th ...

)

References

External links

* * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Thomas Kane, Tiffany Female Paralympic swimmers for Australia Swimmers with dwarfism Sportswomen from New South Wales Swimmers at the 2016 Summer Paralympics Swimmers at the 2020 Summer Paralympics Place of birth missing (living people) Medalists at the 2016 Summer Paralympics Paralympic gold medalists for Australia Paralympic bronze medalists for Australia S6-classified para swimmers Recipients of the Medal of the Order of Australia 2001 births Living people Medalists at the World Para Swimming Championships Paralympic medalists in swimming Australian female medley swimmers Australian female breaststroke swimmers 21st-century Australian women