Ashleigh McConnell
{{short description|Australian Paralympic swimmer}}
{{Use Australian English|date=July 2015}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=August 2016}}
{{Infobox swimmer
| name = Ashleigh McConnell
| image = 140416 - Ashleigh McConnell Rio media pic - 3b.JPG
| imagesize =
| caption =
| fullname = Ashleigh McConnell
| nicknames =
| nationality = Australian
| classification = S9, SB8, SM9
| strokes =
| club = Melbourne Vicentre
| coach = Kenrick Monk
| collegeteam =
| birth_date = {{birth date and age|df=yes|1996|03|26}}
| birth_place = Melbourne, Victoria
| death_date =
| death_place =
| height =
| weight =
| medaltemplates =
{{MedalSport | Women's paralympic swimming}}
{{MedalCountry | {{AUS}} }}
{{MedalCompetition | Paralympics}}
{{MedalGold | 2016 Rio de Janeiro | 4x100 m freestyle 34 pts}}
{{MedalSilver | 2020 Tokyo | 4×100 m freestyle 34 pts}}
{{MedalCompetition | IPC Swimming World Championships}}
{{MedalGold | 2015 Glasgow|4x100 m freestyle}}
{{MedalCompetition |Commonwealth Games}}
{{MedalBronze| 2018 Gold Coast|100m backstroke S9}}
}}
Ashleigh Kate McConnell, {{post-nominals|country=AUS|size=100|OAM}} (born 26 March 1996) is a limb deficient Paralympic swimmer of Australia. She represented Australia at the 2016 Rio Paralympics and the 2020 Tokyo Paralympics, where she won gold medals in freestyle relay events.{{cite web|title=Swimming Australia Paralympic Squad Announcement|url=http://www.swimming.org.au/NewsCentral/Swimming-Australia-Paralympic-Squad-Announcement.aspx|website=Swimming Australia News, 13 April 2016|access-date=14 April 2016|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20161113144330/http://www.swimming.org.au/NewsCentral/Swimming-Australia-Paralympic-Squad-Announcement.aspx|archive-date=13 November 2016|url-status=dead}}{{Cite web|date=16 June 2021|title=Paralympics Australia Names Powerful Para-Swimming Team For Tokyo|url=https://www.paralympic.org.au/2021/06/paralympics-australia-names-powerful-para-swimming-team-for-tokyo/|url-status=live|access-date=17 June 2021|website=Paralympics Australia|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210616114345/https://www.paralympic.org.au/2021/06/paralympics-australia-names-powerful-para-swimming-team-for-tokyo/ |archive-date=16 June 2021 }}
Personal
McConnell was born on 26 March 1996 in Melbourne, Victoria. She was born without her left forearm and left hand.{{cite web|title=Ashleigh McConnell|url=http://www.paralympic.org/swimming/athletes/bios|website=International Paralympic Comnmittee Swimming Athlete Biography|access-date=17 July 2015}} She attended Sunbury College.{{cite news|last1=Kennedy|first1=Barry|title=Sunbury College swimming sensation aims for 2016 Rio Paralympic Games|url=http://www.heraldsun.com.au/leader/north/sunbury-college-swimming-sensation-aims-for-2016-rio-paralympic-games/story-fnglenug-1226886805548|access-date=17 July 2015|work=Sunbury Leader|date=21 April 2014}} In 2015, she was studying Business at Royal Melbourne Institute of Technology.
Career
McConnell started swimming at the age of four. She is classified as a S9 swimmer. She narrowly missed out on making the 2014 Commonwealth Games and 2014 Pan Pacific Swimming Championships. At the 2015 IPC Swimming World Championships in Glasgow, Scotland, she won a gold medal in the Women's 4 × 100 m Freestyle Relay 34 points.
At the 2016 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.
At the 2018 Commonwealth Games on the Gold Coast, McConnell won the bronze medal in the Women's 100m Backstroke S9.{{Cite web|title=Ashleigh McConnell|url=https://commonwealthgames.com.au/athletes/ashleigh-mcconnell/|url-status=live|access-date=22 June 2021|website=Commonwealth Games Australia|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180416035934/http://commonwealthgames.com.au/athletes/ashleigh-mcconnell/ |archive-date=16 April 2018 }}
At the 2020 Tokyo Paralympics, McConnell, together with her team of Emily Beecroft, Ellie Cole, and Isabella Vincent won a silver medal in the Women's 4x100m Freestyle 34 pts with a time of 4:26.82, two seconds behind the winners, Italy.{{Cite web |title=Australian Paralympic Team for Tokyo 2021 |url=https://www.theroar.com.au/olympics/australian-paralympic-team/ |access-date=2022-07-19 |website=The Roar |language=en-US}} She also qualified for the final of the Women's 100 m freestyle S9 where she finished sixth.{{Cite web|title=Ashleigh McConnell|url=https://olympics.com/tokyo-2020/paralympic-games/en/results/swimming/athlete-profile-n1498338-mcconnell-ashleigh.htm|url-status=live|access-date=8 October 2021|website=Tokyo Paralympics Official Results|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210830020542/https://olympics.com/tokyo-2020/paralympic-games/en/results/swimming/athlete-profile-n1498338-mcconnell-ashleigh.htm |archive-date=30 August 2021 }}
At the 2022 Commonwealth Games, Birmingham, England, she finished 4th in the Women's 100 m freestyle S9.{{Cite web |date=5 May 2022 |title=Cole, Patterson And Levy Amongst Stars Of The Pool Ready To Splash And Dash In Birmingham |url=https://commonwealthgames.com.au/cole-patterson-and-levy-amongst-stars-of-the-pool-ready-to-splash-and-dash-in-birmingham/ |access-date=6 May 2022 |website=Commonwealth Games Australia}}{{Cite web |title=2022 Commonwealth Games Results |url=https://commonwealthgames.com.au/games/ |access-date=15 August 2022 |website=Commonwealth Games Australia}}
McConnell's motto is "You can't put a limit on anything. The more you dream, the further you get".{{cite web|title=Ashleigh McConnell|url=http://www.vis.org.au/athletes-sports/athletes/ashleigh-mcconnell/|website=Victorian Institute of Sport|access-date=2 June 2016}}
Recognition
In 2016, with Para swimmer Monique Murphy, McConnell was named RMIT's Female Athlete of the Year.{{Cite web|date=30 November 2016|title=Paralympians share top honours at RMIT Sport Awards|url=https://www.rmit.edu.au/news/all-news/2016/november/paralympians-share-top-honours-at-rmit-sport-awards|url-status=live|access-date=22 June 2021|website=RMIT News|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201024034336/https://www.rmit.edu.au/news/all-news/2016/november/paralympians-share-top-honours-at-rmit-sport-awards |archive-date=24 October 2020 }}
McConnell was awarded the Medal of the Order of Australia in 2017.{{cite web |url=https://www.gg.gov.au/sites/default/files/files/honours/ad/ad2017/slkh83xzcb/OAM%20Final%20Media%20Notes%20(M-R).pdf |title=OAM Final Media Notes (M-R) |publisher=Governor General of Australia |access-date=26 January 2017 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20171030003019/https://www.gg.gov.au/sites/default/files/files/honours/ad/ad2017/slkh83xzcb/OAM%20Final%20Media%20Notes%20(M-R).pdf |archive-date=30 October 2017 |url-status=dead }}
References
{{reflist}}
External links
- [https://web.archive.org/web/20220315165948/https://www.swimming.org.au/athletes/ashleigh-mcconnell Ashleigh McConnell] at Swimming Australia (archived 2022-07-05, [https://web.archive.org/web/20170404005619/http://www.swimming.org.au/Home/AustralianDolphins/AthleteProfile.aspx?AthleteID=37 2017-04-04])
- {{Paralympics Australia|ashleigh-mcconnell}}
- {{Commonwealth Games Australia|ashleigh-mcconnell}}
- {{IPC|ashleigh-mcconnell}}
- {{2022 Commonwealth Games profile|50738}}
{{2016 Australian Paralympic Team}}
{{Portal bar|Australia|Biography|Sports}}
{{Authority control}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:McConnell, Ashleigh}}
Category:Australian female freestyle swimmers
Category:Amputee-category Paralympic competitors
Category:Female Paralympic swimmers for Australia
Category:Paralympic gold medalists for Australia
Category:Paralympic medalists in swimming
Category:Swimmers at the 2016 Summer Paralympics
Category:Swimmers at the 2020 Summer Paralympics
Category:Medalists at the 2016 Summer Paralympics
Category:Medalists at the 2020 Summer Paralympics
Category:Commonwealth Games bronze medallists for Australia
Category:Commonwealth Games bronze medallists in swimming
Category:Swimmers at the 2018 Commonwealth Games
Category:Swimmers at the 2022 Commonwealth Games
Category:Medallists at the 2018 Commonwealth Games
Category:Recipients of the Medal of the Order of Australia
Category:Medalists at the World Para Swimming Championships
Category:S9-classified para swimmers