Emily Beecroft (swimming) won silver in the women’s 100m freestyle S9 at her second Commonwealth Games in Birmingham, an accolade that helped earned her the University of the Sunshine Coast’s Sports Person of the Year for 2022. Four years earlier, she finished fourth in the 100m freestyle S9 at her first Games on the Gold Coast.

Emily, the youngest of triplets, was born with a right-arm limb deficiency and deaf in her left ear. She tried athletics and netball before deciding to concentrate on swimming and began competing in 2010. Five years later, she was ranked in the world’s top five for the 50m butterfly S9 and 50m and 100m freestyle S9. Emily made her Paralympic debut in Rio in 2016 where she reached three finals. Five years later in Tokyo, she made four individual finals and won silver as part of the women’s 4x100m freestyle 34 points and bronze in the women’s 4x100m medley 34 points in Tokyo in 2021. She has also won three individual world championship medals: silver in the 100m butterfly S9 and 100m freestyle S9 at Madeira 2022 and bronze in the 100m butterfly S9 at Manchester 2023. She also won gold as part of the mixed 4x100m medley 34 points in Madeira.

The 2016 Victorian Young Athlete of the Year moved to Queensland in 2022 where she trains with Nathan Doyle at USC Spartans and is studying for a Bachelor of Communications at the University of the Sunshine Coast.