Tracey Cross

{{Infobox sportsperson|

| name = Tracey Cross

| image = 201000 - Opening Ceremony Athletes Oath swimmer Tracey Cross - 3b - 2000 Sydney opening ceremony photo.jpg

| imagesize =

| caption = Cross takes the official Athletes Oath at the 2000 Summer Paralympics Opening Ceremony

| fullname = Tracey Nicole Cross

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| nationality = {{AUS}}

| club =

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| birth_date = 4 December 1972

| birth_place = Bunbury, Western Australia

| death_date =

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| medaltemplates=

{{MedalCompetition | World Championships and Games for the Disabled}}

}}

Tracey Nicole Cross, OAM{{cite web|url=https://honours.pmc.gov.au/honours/awards/886365|title=Cross, Tracey Nicole: Medal of the Order of Australia|publisher=It's an Honour|access-date=9 January 2012}} (born 4 December 1972){{cite web|archive-url=https://webarchive.nla.gov.au/awa/20000120000000/http://www.ausport.gov.au/olym96/paraswim.html|url=http://www.ausport.gov.au/olym96/paraswim.html |title=Australians at the 1996 Atlanta Paralympics: Swimmers|archive-date=20 January 2000|publisher=Australian Sports Commission|access-date=9 January 2012}}{{cbignore|bot=medic}} is an Australian visually impaired swimmer. She won ten medals at three Paralympics, from 1992 to 2000.

Personal

Cross was born in the Western Australian city of Bunbury on 4 December 1972. She has been blind since birth; in a 2000 interview, she said that the light perception that she had in one eye was "almost useless".{{cite news|title=Why every stroke counts for Cross|publisher=The Sydney Morning Herald|first=Philip|last=Derriman|date=11 October 2000|page=40|url=http://newsstore.fairfax.com.au/apps/viewDocument.ac?docID=news001011_0126_5327|access-date=12 December 2012}} She was left out of sporting activities at school, and started swimming at the age of 15. She took the sport casually at first, but took it more seriously when she found that she had a natural aptitude for swimming.

In 1994, she obtained a law degree from Murdoch University. After working in that field for some years, she became a massage therapist; she works in a natural health clinic in West Perth. Cross developed her passion for massage after she sustained a neck and shoulder injury while training for the 2000 Sydney Paralympics.{{Cite web|url=http://www.centrohealth.com.au/practitioners-at-centro-health/remedial-massage-therapist-tracey-cross/|title=Tracey Cross – Remedial Massage Therapist|publisher=Centro Health|access-date=5 October 2017|archive-date=6 October 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20171006112001/http://www.centrohealth.com.au/practitioners-at-centro-health/remedial-massage-therapist-tracey-cross/|url-status=dead}}

Swimming career

File:221000 - Swimming Tracey Cross action - 3b - 2000 Sydney event photo.jpg

Cross won her first international gold medal in the women's 400 m Freestyle B1 at the 1990 World Championships and Games for the Disabled in Assen, Netherlands.{{cite web|archive-url=https://webarchive.nla.gov.au/awa/20001205000000/http://www.paralympic.org.au/athletes/athleteprofile695f.html|url=http://www.paralympic.org.au/athletes/athleteprofile695f.html|archive-date=5 December 2000|title=Athlete's Profile: Tracey Cross|publisher=Australian Paralympic Committee|access-date=9 January 2012}}{{cbignore|bot=medic}}{{cite book|title=World Championships and Games for the Disabled – Athletics Results|year=1990|publisher=Organising Committee|location=Netherlands}}

At the 1992 Barcelona Games, she won two gold medals in the Women's 100 m Freestyle B1 and Women's 400 m Freestyle B1 events, and two silver medals in the Women's 100 m Backstroke B1 and Women's 200 m Medley B1 events;{{cite web|title=Athlete Search Results|url=http://www.paralympic.org/ipc_results/search.php?sport=all&games=all&medal=all&npc=all&name=Cross&fname=Tracey&gender=all|publisher=International Paralympic Committee|access-date=9 January 2012}} she also came fourth in both the Women's 100 m Butterfly B1{{cite web|url=http://www.paralympic.org/ipc_results/results.php?eclass=B1&sport=swimming&competition=1992PG&gender=f&discipline=&event=100%20m%20Butterfly|title=1992 Women's 100 m Butterfly Results|publisher=International Paralympic Committee|access-date=9 January 2012}} and Women's 50 m Freestyle B1 events.{{cite web|url=http://www.paralympic.org/ipc_results/results.php?eclass=B1&sport=swimming&competition=1992PG&gender=f&discipline=&event=50%20m%20Freestyle|title=1992 Women's 50 m Freestyle B1 results|publisher=International Paralympic Committee|access-date=9 January 2012}}

She won two gold medals at the 1996 Atlanta Games in the Women's 100 m Butterfly B1 and the Women's 200 m Medley B1 events, and a silver medal in the Women's 50 m Freestyle B1 event; she also came fifth in the Women's 100 m Backstroke B1 event{{cite web|url=http://www.paralympic.org/ipc_results/results.php?eclass=B1&sport=swimming&competition=1996PG&gender=f&discipline=&event=100%20m%20Backstroke|title=1996 Women's 100 m Backstroke B1 – Results|publisher=International Paralympic Committee|access-date=9 January 2012}} and came seventh in the heats of the Women's 400 m Freestyle B2 event.{{cite web|url=http://www.paralympic.org/ipc_results/results.php?eclass=B2&sport=swimming&competition=1996PG&gender=f&discipline=&event=400%20m%20Freestyle|title=1996 Women's 400 m Freestyle B2 – Results|publisher=International Paralympic Committee|access-date=9 January 2012}}

She spoke the Paralympic oath at the opening ceremony of the 2000 Sydney Paralympics.{{cite news|title=Honour for swimmer|publisher=Illawarra Mercury|date=16 October 2000|page=7|url=http://newsstore.fairfax.com.au/apps/viewDocument.ac?docID=news001017_0166_0030|access-date=12 December 2012}} In the competition, she received two silver medals in the Women's 100 m Freestyle S11 and the Women's 400 m Freestyle S11 events, and a bronze medal in the Women's 50 m Freestyle S11 event; she also came fifth in the Women's 200 m Medley SM11 event{{cite web|url=http://www.paralympic.org/ipc_results/results.php?eclass=SM11&sport=swimming&competition=2000PG&gender=f&discipline=&event=200%20m%20Medley|title=2000 Women's 200 m Medley SM11 – results|publisher=International Paralympic Committee|access-date=9 January 2012}} and eighth in the Women's 100 m Backstroke S11 event.{{cite web|url=http://www.paralympic.org/ipc_results/results.php?eclass=S11&sport=swimming&competition=2000PG&gender=f&discipline=&event=100%20m%20Backstroke|title=2000 Women's 100 m Backstroke S11 – Results|publisher=International Paralympic Committee|access-date=9 January 2012}}

Recognition

In 1993, Cross received a Medal of the Order of Australia for her 1992 Paralympic gold medals. In that year, she also received the Western Australian Citizen of the Year Award in the Youth category.{{cite web|url=http://www.celebratewa.com.au/61/sport|title=WA Citizen of the Year Awards|publisher=Celebrate WA|access-date=9 January 2012}} On 14 November 2000, she received an Australian Sports Medal "For Service to Sport as a gold Medallist at the Paralympic Games".{{cite web|url=https://honours.pmc.gov.au/honours/awards/972131|title=Cross, Tracey Nicole: Australian Sports Medal|publisher=It's an Honour|access-date=9 January 2012}} She received a Centenary Medal on 1 January 2001 "For service to the community through Paralympic swimming".{{cite web|url=https://honours.pmc.gov.au/honours/awards/1123287|title=Cross, Tracey: Centenary Medal|publisher=It's an Honour|access-date=9 January 2012}} In 2009, she was inducted into the Swimming Western Australia Hall of Fame.{{Cite web|url=https://wa.swimming.org.au/hall-of-fame.html|title=Hall of Fame|publisher=Swimming Western Australia|access-date=5 October 2017|archive-date=6 October 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20171006112026/https://wa.swimming.org.au/hall-of-fame.html|url-status=dead}}