Monique Murphy

Murphy was born on 9 April 1994 in Wellington, New Zealand.{{cite web|title=Monique Murphy|url=http://www.swimming.org.au/Home/AustralianDolphins/AthleteProfile.aspx?AthleteID=40|website=Swimming Australia website|access-date=2 June 2016|archive-date=4 April 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170404010100/http://www.swimming.org.au/Home/AustralianDolphins/AthleteProfile.aspx?AthleteID=40|url-status=live}}{{cite web|title=Monique Murphy|url=https://www.paralympic.org.au/athlete/monique-murphy/|website=Australian Paralympic Committee|date=16 March 2016 |access-date=16 April 2016|archive-date=29 March 2016|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160329232446/https://www.paralympic.org.au/athlete/monique-murphy/|url-status=live}} In 2014, Murphy fell 20m from a fifth story balcony{{cite web|last1=Van den Berg|first1=Lucie|title=Swimmer Monique Murphy hopes 'mermaid leg' will get her to Rio Paralympics|url=http://www.heraldsun.com.au/news/victoria/swimmer-monique-murphy-hopes-mermaid-leg-will-get-her-to-rio-paralympics/story-fni0fit3-1227476664173|publisher=Herald Sun|access-date=16 September 2015}} which left her in a coma.{{cite web|last1=Murphy|first1=Monique|title=Keep Monique Standing|url=https://ozcrowd.com/campaigns/keep-monique-standing/|website=Ozcrowd|access-date=16 September 2015|archive-date=11 May 2015|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150511225811/https://ozcrowd.com/campaigns/keep-monique-standing/#.VfdZwOlurdk|url-status=live}} Murphy recalls her injuries when she woke, "I woke up in hospital with a broken jaw in two places, a cut to my neck close to the main artery and windpipe, a broken left collarbone, a tear in my triceps tendon, three broken ribs and a tibial plateau fracture." Murphy's injuries were too severe for recovery, which led to the amputation of her right leg below the knee. In 2016, she is studying a Bachelor of Social Work with honours at RMIT. She also volunteers with St Vincent de Paul with their youth program, and is an ambassador with Share the Dignity. Murphy now resides in Brisbane training alongside paralympians Brendan Hall and Lakeisha Patterson under coach Harley Connolly.

Murphy started swimming at a young age with the Tuggeranong Vikings Swim Club; swimming as an abled-bodied swimmer.{{cite web|url=http://www.vikingsswim.org/hall-of-fame-tvsc-relays/|website=Hall of Fame TVSC|publisher=TVSC|title=TVSC|access-date=16 September 2015|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160304051134/http://www.vikingsswim.org/hall-of-fame-tvsc-relays/|archive-date=4 March 2016|url-status=dead|df=dmy-all}}

Since the accident in 2014, Murphy was determined to get back in the pool and started training at 2014 at Melbourne Vicentre Swimming Club in Melbourne. She now swims under the classification of S10 and was picked to travel with 30 other athletes{{cite web|url=http://www.swimming.org.au/article.php?group_id=68690|website=2015 Australian Dolphins Swim Team Selection|publisher=Swimming Australia|title=Dolphin's swim team|access-date=16 September 2015|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160304065410/http://www.swimming.org.au/article.php?group_id=68690|archive-date=4 March 2016|df=dmy-all}} to Glasgow for the IPC World Championships.{{cite web|title=World Class team seek Glasgow gold|date=9 July 2015 |url=https://paralympic.org.au/world-class-team-seek-glasgow-gold/|publisher=Australian Paralympic Committee|access-date=16 September 2015|archive-date=27 March 2016|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160327204524/https://www.paralympic.org.au/world-class-team-seek-glasgow-gold/|url-status=live}} Here, she placed 6th and 7th in the Women's 400m Freestyle (S10) and Women's 100m Butterfly (S10) respectively.

At the 2016 Rio Paralympics, she competed in four events. Murphy qualified for the final in the Women's 400m S10 and won a silver medal.{{cite web|title=Monique Murphy|url=https://www.rio2016.com/en/paralympics/athlete/monique-murphy|website=Rio Paralympics Official site|access-date=16 September 2016|archive-date=22 September 2016|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160922225215/https://www.rio2016.com/en/paralympics/athlete/monique-murphy|url-status=live}} She also competed in the following events but didn't progress to the finals: Women's 50m Freestyle S10, Women's 100m Freestyle S10 and Women's 100m Backstroke S10.

Murphy has revolutionized how she trains with a "prosthetic fin" which she calls her, "mermaid leg." This new leg helps her engage the muscles of her right leg when swimming. Her motto is "If your dreams don't scare you they aren't big enough". She also reflects on her disability and competing at Rio stating "As a kid growing up I always dreamed of going to the Olympics and this has come around in a different way than I had ever expected so, it's a second chance to go after my dream."{{cite news|last1=Stayner|first1=Guy|title=Rio 2016 Paralympics: Monique Murphy's rapid rise puts swimming medals in her sights|url=http://www.abc.net.au/news/2016-09-01/murphy's-rapid-rise-puts-her-in-rio-medal-frame/7777358|newspaper=ABC News|date=September 2016 |access-date=22 October 2016|archive-date=29 October 2016|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20161029115549/http://www.abc.net.au/news/2016-09-01/murphy's-rapid-rise-puts-her-in-rio-medal-frame/7777358|url-status=live}}

In 2016, she is a Victorian Institute of Sport scholarship holder and trains at Melbourne Vicentre.{{cite web|title=Monique Murphy|url=http://www.vis.org.au/athletes-sports/athletes/monique-murphy/|website=Victorian Institute of Sport website.|access-date=2 June 2016|archive-date=11 August 2016|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160811065243/http://vis.org.au/athletes-sports/athletes/monique-murphy/|url-status=dead}}

At the end of 2016, she relocated to the Gold Coast training with Southport Olympic with coach Glenn Baker and scholarship holder with the QAS. With the cancellation of the 2017 World Championships due to the earthquake in Mexico City, she finished No.1 on the world rankings for S10 400 freestyle for 2017. At the end of 2017, Monique moved to Brisbane to train with coach Harley Connolly at Lawnton Swim Club. She moved to Burpengary Regional Aquatic Center in 2019 to continue training with Harley Connolly.

In October 2018, she was awarded Swimming Australia's Optus Community Award for her role in inspiring the next generation of swimmers through participation in swimming clinics, Australia Swims, Optus Junior Dolphins and Olympics Unleashed.{{cite web |title=Australian Swimming stars in and out of the water celebrated |url=https://www.swimming.org.au/NewsCentral/(20).aspx |website=Swimming Australia website |access-date=31 October 2018 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20181101021156/https://www.swimming.org.au/NewsCentral/(20).aspx |archive-date=1 November 2018 |url-status=dead }}

{{Reflist}}

• [https://web.archive.org/web/20200125002205/https://www.swimming.org.au/athletes/monique-murphy Monique Murphy] at Swimming Australia (archived 2020-01-25, [https://web.archive.org/web/20170404010100/http://www.swimming.org.au/Home/AustralianDolphins/AthleteProfile.aspx?AthleteID=40 2017-04-04])
• {{Paralympics Australia|monique-murphy}}
• {{IPC athlete|monique-murphy}}
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{{2016 Australian Paralympic Team}}

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Category:1994 births

Category:Living people

Category:Australian female backstroke swimmers

Category:Australian female butterfly swimmers

Category:Australian female freestyle swimmers

Category:S10-classified para swimmers

Category:Female Paralympic swimmers for Australia

Category:Paralympic silver medalists for Australia

Category:Paralympic medalists in swimming

Category:Swimmers at the 2016 Summer Paralympics

Category:Medalists at the 2016 Summer Paralympics

Category:Swimmers from Wellington City

Category:21st-century Australian sportswomen