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Katja Dedekind

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Katja Dedekind
Personal information
Full nameKatja Dedekind
NicknameKitty-Kat
Nationality Australia
Born (2001-08-17) 17 August 2001 (age 22)
Durban, South Africa
Sport
SportSwimming
StrokesBackstroke and Freestyle
ClassificationsS13
ClubUSC Spartans
CoachNathan Doyle
Medal record
Women's paralympic swimming
Representing  Australia
Paralympics
Bronze medal – third place 2016 Rio de Janeiro 100 m backstroke S13

Katja Dedekind (born 17 August 2001) is an Australian Paralympic vision-impaired swimmer and goalball player. She won a swimming bronze medal at the 2016 Rio Paralympic Games.[1][2]

Personal

Dedekind was born 17 August 2001 in Durban, South Africa.[3] She has a twin brother.[3] From congenital cataracts and amblyopia, she is blind in the right eye and has limited vision in the left eye.[4]

Previously from Kenmore, Brisbane,[4] she now lives on the Sunshine Coast and attends a local high school.[5]

In March 2018, Dedekind had the honour of being a Queen's Baton Relay runner as one of 3500 Australians for the XXI Commonwealth Games.[4]

Sporting career

Dedekind competes in swimming and goalball. In swimming, she is classified as S13.

She took up goalball in 2012 after attending a ‘come and try’ day. At the 2012, Australian Goalball Championships in Melbourne, she was awarded the title ‘Best Defensive Junior Player’.[3] She was a member of the winning team at the 2013 Australian Invitational Cup in Sydney.[6]

Dedekind took up swimming at an early age with her twin brother, but did not start competing until 2012.[3] At the 2015 Swimming Queensland Sprint Championships, she was awarded the 'Swimmer of the Meet' award for swimmers with a disability.[3] In 2015, she won three gold and five silver medals at the 2015 SSA Pacific School Games. At 2016 Australian Swimming Championships, she won the bronze medal in the women's 200 m freestyle and finished fifth women's 50 m backstroke and women's 50 m butterfly.[3] She is a member of the UQ Swim Club and was coached by David Heyden.[3][7]

In 2016, Dedekind was selected to represent Australia at the 2016 Rio Paralympic Games.[8] She competed in four events and achieved one podium finish. She won a bronze medal in the women's 100 m backstroke S13. She achieved seventh in 400 m freestyle S13.[9] but didn't progress to the finals in 50 m freestyle S13,[10] 100 m freestyle S13 and 100 m freestyle S13.[11]

In August 2018 at the Pan Pacific Para Swimming Championships in Cairns, Queensland, just before her seventeenth birthday, Dedekind took gold with her fastest competitive time for the 100 m backstroke.[12] She also achieved bronze in the women’s 200 m individual medley for the SM12/13 classification, and silver in the 400 m freestyle S13. A member of the Australian Dolphins swim team, Dedekind is preparing for 2020 Tokyo Paralympic Games,[13] with her coach Nathan Doyle.[5]

Her motto is 'If it doesn't challenge you, it doesn't change you'.[6]

Recognition

References

  1. ^ "Australian Paralympic Swimming Team announced". Australian Paralympic Committee News, 1 August 2016. Archived from the original on 29 August 2016. Retrieved 1 August 2016.
  2. ^ "Katja Dedkind". Rio Paralympics Official site. Archived from the original on 23 September 2016. Retrieved 18 September 2016.
  3. ^ a b c d e f g "Katja Dedkind". Australian Paralympic Committee website. Retrieved 1 August 2016.
  4. ^ a b c O’Malley, Brendan (21 November 2017). "An inspiring young swimmer will carry the Queen's baton in the Gold Coast Commonwealth Games". Courier-Mail (Brisbane). Retrieved 24 August 2018.
  5. ^ a b "Get to know Katja Dedekind". Swimming Australia. Retrieved 24 August 2018.
  6. ^ a b "Katja Dedekind-Goalball". Sporting Dreams website. Retrieved 1 August 2016.
  7. ^ "True Story Tuesday: Katja Dedekind & Dave Heyden". YouTube. Retrieved 1 August 2016.
  8. ^ "Swimming (Athletes)". Athletes Selected for Rio. Australian Paralympic Committee. Retrieved 30 September 2016.
  9. ^ "Katja Dedekind". Rio Official Results. Rio 2016 Paralympic Games. Archived from the original on 23 September 2016. Retrieved 30 September 2016.
  10. ^ "Katja Dedekind". Rio Official Results. Rio 2016 Paralympic Games. Archived from the original on 2 October 2016. Retrieved 30 September 2016.
  11. ^ "Katja Dedekind". Rio Official Results. Rio 2016 Paralympic Games. Archived from the original on 23 September 2016. Retrieved 30 September 2016.
  12. ^ "Cairns: Katja later – Dedekind and Dolphins deliver more gold for Australia". Swimming Australia. Retrieved 24 August 2018.
  13. ^ Cumming, Stuart (3 August 2018). "Teen targets Tokyo success in crucial build-up swim". Susnshine Coast Daily. Retrieved 24 August 2018.
  14. ^ "2016 Annual Awards winners". Sporting Wheelies and Disabled Association website. Archived from the original on 20 December 2016. Retrieved 15 December 2016.

External links

Retrieved from "https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Katja_Dedekind&oldid=967440351"