Tracy Lee Barrell, OAM (born 1974) is a triple congenital amputee Paralympic swimmer from Australia. She won two gold medals 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 is a strong advocate for people with disabilities and an indigenous Australian.

Personal

Barrell was born in 1974 in New South Wales. From birth she had no legs and only one arm. Barrell stated that doctors said her disability was a congenital malformation resulting from exposure to an anti

morning sickness Morning sickness, also called nausea and vomiting of pregnancy (NVP), is a symptom of pregnancy that involves nausea or vomiting. Despite the name, nausea or vomiting can occur at any time during the day. Typically the symptoms occur between th ...

pill that her mother Terri had taken. Barrell sat on a skateboard and used her one arm for her mobility as a child. She decided not to use prosthetic legs. She attended

St Patrick's College, Sutherland St Patrick's College is an independent Roman Catholic co-educational secondary day school, located in Sutherland, Southern Sydney, New South Wales, Australia. The College provides a general and religious education for students from Year 7 to Ye ...

in Sydney. She got married in February 1995 to Steve and got divorced 3 years later. She has two sons with her new partner Brad – Bryce (2001) and Oscar (2004). She separated from her partner and raised the children as a single mother.

Sporting career

In 1989, at the age of 14, her mother enrolled her with the NSW Amputee Sporting Association and she commenced her swimming career. She was coached by Mick Maroney and later by Greg Hodge. Her first major competition was the NSW State Games held at Narrabeen Sports Centre where she won gold in four swimming events and two athletics throwing events. Her results led her to being award the Athlete of the Games. She was classified as a S4 swimmer. Thanks to her mother, who sold their farm to get tickets to Spain, she took part in the

. She won two gold medals at the Paralympics in the Women's 4x50 m Freestyle S1-6 event and the Women's 50 m Butterfly S3-4 event and finished fourth in two individual events. In 1993, for her sporting achievements, including those at the Paralympic Games, she was awarded the Medal of the Order of Australia (OAM). She retired from swimming in 1994 due to injury and surgery to her only arm. In 2008, she represented Australia at the Shanghai Women's Sitting Volleyball Tournament.

Advocacy

Since her retirement from sport, she has been a strong advocate for opportunities for people with a disability. Between 2008 and 2015, she was an ambassador for Don't DIS my ABILITY, a program that provides inspirational role models for people with disabilities. In 2011, she was denied access to all rides at Movie World Studios due to a change in their safety policy. In previous visits, she was able to access all the rides. In 2013, she was appointed as a Living Life My Way Ambassadors and Champions by the New South Wales Government. Barrell has indigenous heritage. In 2015 she was a spokesperson for First Peoples Disability Network and on December, 3rd she took part in a celebration of indigenous Paralympians at National Centre of Indigenous Excellence in Sydney.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Barrell, Tracy 1974 births Living people Female Paralympic swimmers for Australia Swimmers at the 1992 Summer Paralympics Paralympic gold medalists for Australia Recipients of the Medal of the Order of Australia Medalists at the 1992 Summer Paralympics Amputee category Paralympic competitors Australian amputees Indigenous Australian Paralympians Paralympic medalists in swimming Australian female freestyle swimmers Australian female butterfly swimmers S4-classified para swimmers 20th-century Australian women Sportswomen from New South Wales