Lakeisha Patterson
2016 Australian Paralympic team portrait of Patterson
Personal information
Full nameLakeisha Patterson
NicknameLucky
NationalityAustralian
Born (1999-01-05) 5 January 1999 (age 25)
Wodonga, Victoria
Sport
SportSwimming
ClassificationsS9
ClubBelgravia Swim Team
CoachHarley Connolly
Medal record
Women's paralympic swimming
Representing  Australia
Paralympics
Gold medal – first place 2016 Rio de Janeiro 400 m freestyle S8
Gold medal – first place 2016 Rio de Janeiro 4×100 m freestyle
Gold medal – first place 2020 Tokyo 400 m freestyle S9
Silver medal – second place 2016 Rio de Janeiro 50m freestyle S8
Silver medal – second place 2016 Rio de Janeiro 100m freestyle S8
Silver medal – second place 2016 Rio de Janeiro 4×100 m medley
Bronze medal – third place 2016 Rio de Janeiro 200m individual medley S8
World Championships
Gold medal – first place 2015 Glasgow 4×100 m freestyle
Gold medal – first place 2019 London 400 m freestyle S9
Gold medal – first place 2023 Manchester 400 m freestyle S9
Silver medal – second place 2015 Glasgow 50 m freestyle S8
Silver medal – second place 2015 Glasgow 4×100 m medley
Bronze medal – third place 2015 Glasgow 100 m freestyle S8
Bronze medal – third place 2015 Glasgow 400 m freestyle S8
Commonwealth Games
Gold medal – first place 2018 Gold Coast 50 m freestyle S8
Gold medal – first place 2018 Gold Coast 100 m freestyle S9
Bronze medal – third place 2014 Glasgow 100 m freestyle S8

Lakeisha Dawn Patterson, OAM (born 5 January 1999) is an Australian Paralympic swimmer. She won medals at the 2014 Commonwealth Games and 2015 IPC Swimming World Championships. At the 2016 Rio Paralympics, she won Australia's first gold medal of the Games in a world record time swim in the Women's 400m freestyle S8. At the 2020 Tokyo Paralympics, she won the gold medal in the Women's 400 m Freestyle S9.[1]

Personal

Patterson was born on 5 January 1999 in Wodonga, Victoria.[2] She has early onset Parkinson's disease, epilepsy and cerebral palsy left hemiplegia.[3][4] In 2020, she is undertaking a Bachelor of Communication (majoring in Digital Media) at University of Queensland.

She lives at Caboolture, Queensland.

Career

Patterson started swimming at the age of three as part of her rehabilitation to overcome muscle stiffness.[5] She is classified as an S9 swimmer. She initially trained under Steve Hadler at Southern Cross Swimming Club Archived 13 September 2018 at the Wayback Machine, Scarborough and Suellyn Fraser at the Bribie Island Aquatic Leisure Centre.[5]

Patterson after winning the 400m freestyle at the Rio Paralympics

At the 2014 Commonwealth Games in Glasgow, Scotland, she won the bronze medal in the Women's 100 m Freestyle S8.[3] Competing at the 2015 IPC Swimming World Championships in Glasgow, she won a gold medal in the Women's 4 × 100 m Freestyle Relay 34 points, silver medals in the Women's 50 m Freestyle S8 and Women's 4 × 100 m Medley Relay 34 points and bronze medals in the Women's 100 m Freestyle S8 and Women's 400 m Freestyle S8.[6][7][8] She finished fifth in the Women's 100m Backstroke S8.[9]

In April 2016, she was selected as part of the national team for the 2016 Summer Paralympics in Rio de Janeiro.[10] She won Australia's first gold medal of the Rio Paralympics in winning the Women's 400m Freestyle S8, she set a new World record, Paralympic record, and Oceania record of 4:40:33, slicing 0.11 seconds of the previous world record time set by her long-time idol, American Jessica Long, who came in second.[11][12] She was a member of the team that won the gold medal in the Women's 4 × 100 m Freestyle Relay 34 points. Three silver medals were won in the Women's 50 m and 100m Freestyle S8 behind Maddison Elliott and the Women's 4 × 100 m Medley Relay 34 points.[13]

In reflection on competing at Rio 2016, Patterson says "If someone told me one year ago that this is where I'd be I would have said, 'no, this is a joke.'"[14] But after winning her first gold medal against Jessica Long, she states "I knew I had to attack and go out hard and keep fighting for it, and I knew she was right behind me, so I just had to keep going forward."[15]

At the 2019 World Para Swimming Championships in London, she won the gold medal in the Women's 400 m Freestyle S9 and did not medal in three other events.[16]

At the 2020 Tokyo Paralympics, in her only event, she won the gold medal in the Women's 400 m Freestyle S9 with a time of 4:36.68. This repeated her success in Rio but this time she was in the S9 class as she was reclassified as an S9 swimmer, a class for less physically impaired swimmers.[17]

At the 2022 Commonwealth Games, Birmingham, England, she finished 5th in the Women's 200 m individual medley SM10.[18][19]

In 2015, she was coached by Jan Cameron at the University of the Sunshine Coast Paralympic Training Centre.[2] In early 2016, she moved to coach Harley Connolly.[20]

Recognition

References

  1. ^ "Swimming - PATTERSON Lakeisha". Tokyo 2020 Paralympics. Tokyo Organising Committee of the Olympic and Paralympic Games. Retrieved 25 August 2021.[dead link]
  2. ^ a b "Lakeisha Patterson". Swimming Australia website. Archived from the original on 21 July 2015. Retrieved 17 July 2015.
  3. ^ a b "Lakeisha Patterson'". 2014 Commonwealth Games website. Archived from the original on 26 August 2021. Retrieved 17 July 2015.
  4. ^ "Story Of The Month: Lakeisha Patterson". Future State Greats. Archived from the original on 29 June 2016. Retrieved 17 July 2015.
  5. ^ a b "Lakeisha Patterson makes a splash with medal haul". Caboulture News. 1 April 2013. Archived from the original on 11 May 2013. Retrieved 17 July 2015.
  6. ^ "Six golds and one world record for Ukraine at Glasgow 2015". International Paralympic Committee News, 16 July 2015. Retrieved 16 July 2015.
  7. ^ "Aussies unite for a nail biting bronze medal win in the men's relay". Swimming Australia News, 18 July 2015. Archived from the original on 21 July 2015. Retrieved 18 July 2015.
  8. ^ "Seven golds in seven days for Dias at Glasgow 2015". International Paralympic Committee News, 19 July 2015. Retrieved 19 July 2015.
  9. ^ "Lakeisha Patterson results". Glasgow 2015 IPC Swimming World Championships. Retrieved 21 July 2015.
  10. ^ "Swimming Australia Paralympic Squad Announcement". Swimming Australia News, 13 April 2016. Archived from the original on 13 November 2016. Retrieved 14 April 2016.
  11. ^ "Lakeisha Patterson 2016 Paralympic results". Rio-2016 Schedule & Results, Results – Women's 400m Freestyle – S8 Final. Retrieved 8 September 2016.
  12. ^ "Lakeisha Patterson claims Australia's first gold medal of Rio Paralympics". The Guardian. 9 September 2016. Retrieved 9 September 2016.
  13. ^ "Lakeisha Patterson". Rio Paralympics Official site. Archived from the original on 22 September 2016. Retrieved 11 September 2016.
  14. ^ Spits, Scott. "io Paralympics: Swimmer Lakeisha Patterson wins Australia's first gold medal". SMH Sport. Sydney Morning Herald. Retrieved 22 October 2016.
  15. ^ "Rio 2016 Paralympics: Lakeisha Patterson wins gold in world record time, Powell takes silver". News ABC. ABC News. Retrieved 22 October 2016.
  16. ^ "Lakeisha Patterson". 2019 World Para Swimming Championships Results. Retrieved 14 September 2019.
  17. ^ "Lakeisha Patterson Results". Tokyo Paralympics Official Results. Archived from the original on 25 August 2021. Retrieved 25 August 2021.
  18. ^ "Cole, Patterson And Levy Amongst Stars Of The Pool Ready To Splash And Dash In Birmingham". Commonwealth Games Australia. 5 May 2022. Retrieved 6 May 2022.
  19. ^ "2022 Commonwealth Games Results". Commonwealth Games Australia. Retrieved 15 August 2022.
  20. ^ Grams, Jacob (17 April 2016). "Olympics and Paralympics beckon for Moreton products Taylor McKeown, Lakeisha Patterson, Brenden Hall and Blake Cochrane". Caboolture Shire Herald. Retrieved 9 September 2016.
  21. ^ "Cate Campbell takes out top honour at Queensland Sport awards" (PDF). Q. Archived from the original (PDF) on 20 December 2016. Retrieved 8 December 2016.
  22. ^ "2016 Annual Awards winners". Sporting Wheelies and Disabled Association website. Archived from the original on 20 December 2016. Retrieved 15 December 2016.
  23. ^ "OAM Final Media Notes (M-R)" (PDF). Governor General of Australia. Archived from the original (PDF) on 30 October 2017. Retrieved 26 January 2017.
  24. ^ "Emily Seebohm and Emma McKeon reign supreme at Swimming's Gala Awards Night". Swimming Australia website. Archived from the original on 7 November 2017. Retrieved 29 October 2017.
  25. ^ "2018 UniSport award winners". UniSport Australia twitter. Retrieved 18 December 2018.
  26. ^ "Triple Treat for 'Arnie' at Swimming's Night of Nights". Swimming Australia. 24 November 2019. Retrieved 2 December 2019.
  27. ^ "Lakeisha Patterson". Swimming Australia. Retrieved 22 June 2020.

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