Ashleigh McConnell OAM (swimming) claimed her first major international individual medal at the Gold Coast 2018 Commonwealth Games, taking bronze in the 100m backstroke S9. At her second Games in Birmingham, she finished fourth in the women’s 100m freestyle S9.

Ashleigh was born without her left forearm and left hand and started swimming aged four. After narrowly missing selection for the London 2012 Paralympics and Glasgow 2014 Commonwealth Games, she made her Para Dolphins debut at the 2015 world championships in Glasgow. The following year, she was part of the gold medal-winning women’s 4x100m freestyle 34 points relay team at the Rio 2016 Paralympics and added silver in the same event at the Tokyo Paralympics.

Coached by two-time Olympian and Commonwealth Games representative Kenrick Monk at Melbourne Vicentre, Ashleigh identifies fellow S9 swimmer and Commonwealth Games medallist Matt Cowdrey OAM as her swimming hero. One of her favourite quotes is from Dr Seuss: “You have to be odd to be number one”.

She has a Bachelor of Business from the Royal Melbourne Institute of Technology