Katja Dedekind (swimming) broke the world record in winning gold in the women’s 50m freestyle S13 at her first Commonwealth Games in Birmingham, just the second Australian female para swimmer to set a world record at the Games after Maddison Elliott in Glasgow in 2014.

Katja was born with congenital cataracts and amblyopia which limits vision in her left eye and caused blindness in her right eye. She took up swimming at an early age with her twin brother but didn’t start competitively until 2012. Just four years later, Katja made her Paralympic debut in Rio where she won bronze in the 100m backstroke S13 and reached the final of the 400m freestyle S13. She won bronze again in the 100m backstroke S13 – as well as the 400m freestyle S13 – at her second Paralympics in Tokyo.

She has also won six medals – including consecutive gold in the 50m freestyle S13 – at the last two world championships in Madeira 2022 and Manchester 2023.

Originally from Durban in South Africa, Katja and her family relocated to Melbourne when she was seven, before making their way to Queensland. She is studying criminology at Griffith University.