Richard Eliason

Richard Eliason (born 8 April 1988) is an Australian swimmer. He was selected to represent Australia at the 2012 Summer Paralympics in swimming. He has an intellectual disability and was among the first intellectually disabled athletes to compete in the Paralympics after the 2000 Summer Paralympics intellectual disability controversy. While he did not receive a medal at the Games, he placed 5th in the final. He is a recipient of the Service to Australian Swim Team award.

For the politician, see Dick Eliason.

Richard Eliason
2012 Australian Paralympic Team portrait of Eliason
Personal information
Full nameRichard Eliason
Nationality Australia
Born (1988-04-08) 8 April 1988
Sport
SportSwimming
StrokesFreestyle, breaststroke
ClassificationsS14, SB14, SM14

Personal

Eliason was born on 8 April 1988 with an intellectual disability and is from Flynn, Australian Capital Territory.[1] In December 2011 during his preparation for the national selection trials for the 2012 Summer Paralympics, Eliason was injured in a motorbike accident, breaking his spine in five places, preventing him from training for two months.[2] Some of his Games preparation took place at the Canberra International Sports & Aquatic Centre.[2] Given his motorbike accident, his coaches advised him to take the bus from place to place and to avoid using his bike until after the Paralympics.[2]

Swimming

Eliason is an SB14 classified swimmer,[3][1] and is coached by Cameron Gledhill at his club venue Canberra International Sports & Aquatic Centre.[2] As of 2012, he had a swimming scholarship with the Australian Capital Territory Academy of Sport.[4] He started competitive swimming in 2001.[1] At the Brisbane hosted 2006 Australian national titles, he placed in the top three in the 400 metres freestyle multi-disability event.[5] In March 2012, he competed in the Adelaide hosted national selection trials,[2] where he won the men's 100 metres breaststroke with a time of 1:10.07.[6][7]

Eliason made his national team debut at the 2005 INAS-FID Global Games, where he won a silver medal in the 200 metre breaststroke event.[1] He won a pair of gold medals, four silver medals and a bronze medals 2007 INAS-FID Global Games.[1] He competed in the Global Games again in 2009, where he earned a pair of gold and silver medals, and three bronze medals.[1] He was a member of the Australian team competing at the Dutch hosted 2011 IPC World Swimming Championships.[8] in 2012 he posted the fastest time in the world in his classification in the 100 meters butterfly.[9]

Paralympics
Eliason at the 2012 London Paralympics

In July 2012,[10] Eliason was formally selected to represent Australia at the 2012 Summer Paralympics in the men's 100 metres breaststroke event in the intellectual disability classification,[3][11][12] which had been excluded since the 2000 Summer Paralympics intellectual disability controversy. He placed 5th in the final.[13] He did not gain a medal at the 2012 Games.[1]

Personal bests
Course Event Time Meet Swim Date Reference
Long 50m Breaststroke 32.03 2012 EnergyAustralia Swimming Championships 22-Mar-12 [6]
Long 100m Breaststroke 01:10.7 2012 EnergyAustralia Swimming Championships 18-Mar-12 [6]
Long 200m Breaststroke 02:40.1 Canberra Christmas Classic 2007 1-Dec-07 [6]
Long 50m Butterfly 30.91 2008 Telstra Australian Swimming Championship 22-Mar-08 [6]
Long 50m Freestyle 27 2009 Burley Griffin October Meet 10-Oct-09 [6]
Long 100m Freestyle 01:00.5 2010 Telstra Australian Championship 16-Mar-10 [6]
Long 200m Freestyle 02:16.3 Telopea Summer Meet 2005 5-Nov-05 [6]
Long 400m Freestyle 04:48.5 ACT Summer 19-Nov-05 [6]
Long 200m Medley 02:33.6 2012 EnergyAustralia Swimming Championships 20-Mar-12 [6]
Short 50m Backstroke 37.26 Canberra WDS Meet 11-Jun-06 [6]
Short 50m Breaststroke 31.72 2012 NSW SC Country Championships 7-Jul-12 [6]
Short 100m Breaststroke 01:08.6 2012 NSW SC Country Championships 8-Jul-12 [6]
Short 200m Breaststroke 02:33.8 2006 NSW State Age SC Championships 15-Sep-06 [6]
Short 50m Butterfly 29.49 2011 Australian Short Course Championships 3-Jul-11 [6]
Short 100m Butterfly 01:09.9 Canberra WDS Meet 11-Jun-06 [6]
Short 50m Freestyle 26.29 ACT Short Course Championships 1-Aug-09 [6]
Short 100m Freestyle 59.82 Ginninderra Winter Short Course Carnival 2010 26-Jun-10 [6]
Short 200m Freestyle 02:14.1 2010 TVSC Annual Qualifying Meet 23-May-10 [6]
Short 200m Medley 02:31.5 Canberra WDS Meet 11-Jun-06 [6]


Awards

In 2017, Eliason was awarded the Service to Australian Swim Team award.[14]

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References
  1. "Richard Eliason". Australia: Australian Paralympic Committee. 2012. Archived from the original on 12 July 2012. Retrieved 13 July 2012.
  2. Lee Gaskin (18 July 2012). "Eliason wants to make up for lost time in London". Canberra Times. Retrieved 1 August 2012.
  3. "Paralympic swim team revealed". Australian Paralympic Committee. 10 July 2012. Archived from the original on 11 July 2012. Retrieved 10 July 2012.
  4. "Barr relishes Olympic late nights". CityNews. 27 July 2012. Retrieved 1 August 2012.
  5. "14-year-old dead-heats for title". The Age. 6 December 2006. Retrieved 1 August 2012.
  6. "Richard Eliason personal bests". Swimming Western Australia. Retrieved 1 August 2012.
  7. Men's 100 m Breaststroke SB14 World Ranking, IPC
  8. "Australian Swimming Coaches and Teachers Association". Australian Swimming Coaches and Teachers Association. Archived from the original on 2 January 2013. Retrieved 1 August 2012.
  9. Gaskin, Lee (18 July 2012). "Eliason wants to make up for lost time in London". The Canberra Times. Retrieved 30 April 2020.
  10. Lee Gaskin (11 July 2012). "Team to beat follows the black line to London". Canberra Times. Retrieved 1 August 2012.
  11. "Cowdrey leads Paralympic swim team". ABC News (Australian Broadcasting Corporation). Retrieved 13 July 2012.
  12. "Archived copy". Archived from the original on 26 August 2012. Retrieved 22 August 2012.CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link)
  14. "Emily Seebohm, Rowan Crothers Named Australia's Swimmers of the Year". SwimSwam. 6 November 2017. Retrieved 30 April 2020.
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