 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Personal information | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Full name | Ashleigh McConnell | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Nationality | Australian | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Born | (1996-03-26)26 March 1996 (age 28) Melbourne,Victoria | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Sport | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Sport | Swimming | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Classifications | S9, SB8, SM9 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Club | Melbourne Vicentre | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Coach | Kenrick Monk | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Medal record
| ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Ashleigh Kate McConnell,OAM (born 26 March 1996) is a limb deficient Paralympic swimmer of Australia. She represented Australia at the2016 Rio Paralympics and the2020 Tokyo Paralympics, where she won gold medals in freestyle relay events.[1][2]
McConnell was born on 26 March 1996 inMelbourne,Victoria.[3] She was born without her left forearm and left hand.[4] She attendedSunbury College.[5] In 2015, she was studying Business atRoyal Melbourne Institute of Technology.[4]
McConnell started swimming at the age of four.[4] She is classified as aS9 swimmer.[4] She narrowly missed out on making the2014 Commonwealth Games and2014 Pan Pacific Swimming Championships.[5] At the2015 IPC Swimming World Championships inGlasgow, Scotland, she won a gold medal in the Women's 4 × 100 m Freestyle Relay 34 points.
At the2016 Summer Paralympics, McConnell won the gold medal in the Women's 4 × 100 m Freestyle Relay 34 points and competed in three additional freestyle events.[5]
At the2018 Commonwealth Games on theGold Coast, McConnell won the bronze medal in the Women's 100m Backstroke S9.[6]
At the2020 Tokyo Paralympics, McConnell, together with her team ofEmily Beecroft,Ellie Cole, andIsabella Vincent won a silver medal in theWomen's 4x100m Freestyle 34 pts with a time of 4:26.82, two seconds behind the winners, Italy.[7] She also qualified for the final of theWomen's 100 m freestyle S9 where she finished sixth.[8]
At the2022 Commonwealth Games,Birmingham, England, she finished 4th in theWomen's 100 m freestyle S9.[9][10]
McConnell's motto is "You can't put a limit on anything. The more you dream, the further you get".[3][4]
In 2016, with Para swimmerMonique Murphy, McConnell was namedRMIT's Female Athlete of the Year.[11]
McConnell was awarded theMedal of the Order of Australia in 2017.[12]
