Ben Austin
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| Full name | Benjamin James Austin | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Nationality |  Australia |
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| Born | 7 November 1980 Wellington, New South Wales |
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| Height | 187 centimetres (74 in) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Weight | 83 kilograms (180 lb) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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Medal record
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Benjamin James Austin, OAM [1] (born 7 November 1980 in Wellington, New South Wales) is an Elite Athlete with a Disability (EAD) swimmer for Australia. His classification is S8 (above elbow amputee).
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[edit] Personal
Austin was born on 7 November 1980[2] in Wellington, New South Wales.[3] When he was a few weeks old, doctors amputated his left arm above the elbow due to complications related to his birth. Outside of swimming, he plays rugby league, rugby union, water polo[2] and basketball.[3] He is a university student, working on a degree that will allow him to become an English as a Second Language teacher.[2] He is also studying kinesiology.[3] He currently resides in Sydney, Australia.[3] He is 187cm tall and weighs 83kg.[3] He has four sisters.[4]
[edit] Swimming
Austin started swimming at five years of age,[4] and began swimming competitively in 1996. He represented Australia for the first time in 1999.[2] While he is primarily known for being a Paralympic swimmer, he also competed in abled bodied swimming.[2] He swims for Warringah Aquatic and is coached by Ben Davies.[3] In 2008, he was coached by Graeme Carroll.[5] He was an Australian Institute of Sport scholarship holder.[4]
He has competed at the 2000 Summer Paralympics, the 2004 Summer Paralympics and the 2008 Summer Paralympics.[2] At the 2000 Games, he won a silver medal in the 200m individual medley, and two bronze medals in the 100m butterfly and 4x100m medley relay events.[3] At the 2004 Games, he won two gold medals in the 100m freestyle and 4×100 m medley events, for which he received a Medal of the Order of Australia, [1] three silver medals in the 100m butterfly, 200m individual medley, and 4×100 m freestyle relay events, and a bronze medal in the 4x100m freestyle relay.[3][6] He set two world records at the 2004 Paralympic Games in the 100m freestyle and 100m butterfly events.[2] At the 2008 Games, he won a silver medal in the 4x100m freestyle relay.[3] He finished in fifth place in the 100m butterfly event, and fourth in the 100m freestyle event.[3]
He competed at the IPC Swimming World Championships in 2002 and 2006. [3] At the 2008 Australian Championships, he set a personal best time in the 100m Freestyle event with a time of 0:59.08.[3]
[edit] 2002 Manchester Commonwealth Games
Austin set two world records at the 2006 Commonwealth Games.[2]
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[edit] 2006 Melbourne Commonwealth Games
Austin set six world records at the 2006 Commonwealth Games.[2]
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[edit] References
- ^ a b "Austin, Benjamin James, OAM". It's an Honour. http://www.itsanhonour.gov.au/honours/honour_roll/search.cfm?aus_award_id=1057741&search_type=quick&showInd=true. Retrieved 2 February 2012.
- ^ a b c d e f g h i "Ben Austin". Australian Paralympic Committee. http://www.paralympic.org.au/team/ben-austin. Retrieved 18 November 2011.
- ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l "Ben Austin". Australia: Swimming Australia. http://swimming.org.au/profiles/index.cfm?fuseaction=profile&ProfileID=1116306. Retrieved 18 November 2011.
- ^ a b c "Ben Austin". Vibe Magazine. October 2004. http://www.vibe.com.au/index.php?view=items&cid=145%3Adeadly-vibe-archive&id=3374%3Aben-austin&pop=1&tmpl=component&print=1&option=com_flexicontent. Retrieved 18 November 2011.
- ^ "One for the purists". Sydney, New South Wales: Sydney Morning Herald. 7 September 2008. http://www.smh.com.au/news/sport/one-for-the-purists/2008/09/06/1220121590746.html. Retrieved 18 November 2011.
- ^ "Athlete Search Results". International Paralympic Committee. http://www.paralympic.org/Sport/Results/search.html?sport=all&games=all&medal=all&npc=aus&name=Austin&fname=&gender=m. Retrieved 4 February 2012.
[edit] External links
- 1980 births
- Living people
- People from New South Wales
- Australian amputees
- Australian swimmers
- Paralympic swimmers of Australia
- Commonwealth Games competitors for Australia
- Swimmers at the 2000 Summer Paralympics
- Swimmers at the 2004 Summer Paralympics
- Swimmers at the 2006 Commonwealth Games
- Swimmers at the 2010 Commonwealth Games
- Paralympic gold medalists for Australia
- Paralympic silver medalists for Australia
- Paralympic bronze medalists for Australia
- Commonwealth Games gold medallists for Australia
- World record holders in paralympic swimming
- Recipients of the Medal of the Order of Australia
- Australian Institute of Sport alumni
