Kayla Clarke

Kayla Clarke (born 6 August 1991) is an Indigenous[1] Australian swimmer who represented Australia at the 2012 Summer Paralympics in swimming, and has medalled at the 2010 Australian Disability Age Group Nationals, and 2010 International Paralympic Swimming World Championships, 2009 Queensland State Championships, 2009 Queensland Secondary School Titles, and 2009 Global Games. She competes in a number of events, including the 100m freestyle, 100m backstroke, 100m breaststroke, 100m butterfly and 200m individual medley.

Kayla Clarke
2012 Australian Paralympic Team portrait of Clarke
Personal information
Full nameKayla Clarke
Nationality Australia
Born (1991-08-06) 6 August 1991
Sport
SportSwimming
Strokesbackstroke, breaststroke, freestyle
ClassificationsS14, SB14, SM14
ClubYeronga Park
CoachRick Vanderzandt

Personal

Clarke was born in Silkstone, Queensland.[2][3] She has an intellectual disability.[2] She attended Ipswich Central High School and Bremer State High School,[4] and was named the 2009–10 Ipswich News YoungStar Sports winner.[2]

Swimming

Clarke started swimming competitively in 2007, and competes in the S14 classification.[5] She was a member of the Woogaroo Swimming Club,[2] and was coached by Tony Keogh, who became her coach in 2008.[6] She has a swimming scholarship with the Queensland Academy of Sport,[7] is involved in the Australian Institute of Sport program,[6] and received A$20,000 in Australian Government Direct Athlete Support (DAS) funds in the 2011–12 financial year.[8] One of her major swimming rivals is fellow Australian swimmer Taylor Corry.[9]

At the 2009 Queensland State Championships, she won five gold medals in her classification races.[10] The Queensland Secondary School Titles that year ended with her winning seven first-place finishes,[10] and she earned five gold medals, a silver medal two bronze medals at the 2009 Global Games.[2][5][6][10]

In 2010, she won eight gold and two silver medals at Australian Disability Age Group Nationals,[2][5][10] and competed in the International Paralympic Swimming World Championships, where she finished second with a personal best time of 1:11.13 in the S14 100m backstroke event. She also finished fourth in the 200m freestyle and fifth in the 100m breaststroke.[2][6][11][12]

Clarke became affiliated with the Yeronga Park Club in 2011 in an effort to make the Paralympic Games, and switched coaches, taking on Rick Van Der Zant as her new coach.[4] The 2011 Australian national championships saw her win six golds in seven events, including the 100m freestyle, 100m backstroke, 100m breaststroke, 100m butterfly and 200m individual medley.[6] She competed in the inaugural 2011 Para Pan Pacific Championships, where she finished first in the S14 200m freestyle event,[3][6] and at the 2011 Can-Am Swimming Open, in which she posted first-place finishes in the 100m backstroke and 200m freestyle events.[9]

Clarke was selected to represent Australia at the 2012 Summer Paralympics in the S14 100m backstroke, 200m freestyle and 100m breaststroke events.[5][13] These were her first Paralympic Games, and she was the only female swimmer from Queensland. Going into the Games, she was ranked second in the world in the 100m backstroke. She trained for the Games in China in order to acclimatise, and participated in a two-week-long national team training camp in Cardiff prior to the start. Support for her Paralympic efforts came from sponsors including TogTastic Racing and Training Swimwear.[4] She made the finals in all three events, but finished outside the medals, being placed fourth in the 200m freestyle and 100m breaststroke, and sixth in the 100m backstroke.[14][15][16]

Clarke won five gold and a silver medal at the 2014 Pan Pacific Para-swimming Championships in Pasadena, California. After the Championships, she underwent shoulder surgery.[17]

Personal bests

Personal bests as of 16 September 2012:

Course Event Time Meet Swim date Reference
Long 50m Backstroke 00:34.18 2011 McDonald's QLD Sprint Championships 1102055 February 2011 [18]
Long 100m Backstroke 01:11.04 2012 Summer Paralympic Games 12083131 August 2012 [15]
Long 200m Backstroke 02:35.2 VORGEE NT Open & Age 2011 11031717 March 2011 [18]
Long 50m Breaststroke 00:39.83 2012 Brisbane Sprint Championships 12012828 January 2012 [18]
Long 100m Breaststroke 01:22.87 2012 Summer Paralympic Games 1209066 September 2012 [16]
Long 50m Butterfly 00:31.02 2012 EnergyAustralia Swimming Championships 12031717 March 2012 [18]
Long 100m Butterfly 01:10.3 2011 McDonald's Qld Swimming Championships 11121414 December 2011 [18]
Long 50m Freestyle 00:28.66 2012 EnergyAustralia Swimming Championships 12031616 March 2012 [18]
Long 100m Freestyle 01:02.5 2012 EnergyAustralia Swimming Championships 12031919 March 2012 [18]
Long 200m Freestyle 02:15.33 2012 Summer Paralympic Games 1209022 September 2012 [14]
Long 400m Freestyle 04:52.3 2011 McDonald's Qld Swimming Championships 11121414 December 2011 [18]
Long 200m Medley 02:33.0 2012 EnergyAustralia Swimming Championships 12031220 March 2012 [18]
Short 50m Backstroke 00:33.38 2011 Australian Short Course Championships 1107033 July 2011 [18]
Short 100m Backstroke 01:11.4 2010 Telstra Australian Short Course 10071414 July 2010 [18]
Short 50m Breaststroke 00:39.14 2011 Australian Short Course Championships 1107022 July 2011 [18]
Short 100m Breaststroke 01:24.0 2011 Australian Short Course Championships 1107033 July 2011 [18]
Short 50m Butterfly 00:32.29 2010 Telstra Australian Short Course 10071414 July 2010 [18]
Short 100m Butterfly 01:10.1 2010 Telstra Australian Short Course 10071414 July 2010 [18]
Short 50m Freestyle 00:29.04 2011 Australian Short Course Championships 1107011 July 2011 [18]
Short 100m Freestyle 01:03.1 2010 Telstra Australian Short Course 10071414 July 2010 [18]
Short 200m Medley 02:36.7 2010 Telstra Australian Short Course 10071414 July 2010 [18]

References
  1. "Australia's Indigenous Paralympians honoured for International Day of People with a Disability". Australian Paralympic Committee website. Retrieved 10 July 2017.
  2. O'Neill, Brent (26 August 2010). "Kayla's triumph". Ipswich News. Archived from the original on 31 December 2012. Retrieved 17 July 2012.
  3. "Aussie para swim team grab six gold medals". Nine MSN. Archived from the original on 13 September 2011. Retrieved 18 August 2012.
  4. David Lems (9 August 2012). "Ready to race | Ipswich Swimming". Ipswich Queensland Times. Retrieved 18 August 2012.
  5. "Kayla Clarke". Australia: Australian Paralympic Committee. 2012. Archived from the original on 12 July 2012. Retrieved 13 July 2012.
  6. David Lems (28 April 2011). "London calling Kayla Clarke". Ipswich Queensland Times. Retrieved 17 July 2012.
  7. "Swimming". Queensland Academy of Sport. Retrieved 18 August 2012.
  8. "Grant Funding Report : Supporting Sport". Australian Sports Commission. 2 June 2010. Archived from the original on 30 November 2012. Retrieved 18 August 2012.
  9. "Australia Fares Well at Can-Am Swimming Open". International Paralympic Committee. Retrieved 18 August 2012.
  10. O'Neill, Brent (23 March 2010). "Silkstone swimmer following her idols". Ipswich News. Archived from the original on 10 April 2011. Retrieved 17 July 2012.
  11. Kasmarik, Morgan (18 August 2010). "IPC World Swimming Championships: Day Three". ABC Grandstand Sport. Retrieved 18 August 2012.
  12. "Cowdrey strikes gold in 100m free". ABC News (Australian Broadcasting Corporation). 18 August 2010. Retrieved 18 August 2012.
  13. "Paralympic swim team revealed". Australian Paralympic Committee. 10 July 2012. Archived from the original on 11 July 2012. Retrieved 10 July 2012.
  14. "Women's 200m Freestyle - S14". Official site of the London 2012 Olympic and Paralympic Games. Archived from the original on 14 September 2012. Retrieved 15 September 2012.
  15. "Women's 100m Backstroke - S14". Official site of the London 2012 Olympic and Paralympic Games. Archived from the original on 14 September 2012. Retrieved 15 September 2012.
  16. "Women's 200m Breaststroke - SB14". Official site of the London 2012 Olympic and Paralympic Games. Archived from the original on 13 September 2012. Retrieved 15 September 2012.
  17. Lems, David (21 August 2014). "Clarke returns with medal haul as she prepares for surgery". Gatton, Lockyer & Brisbane Valley Star. Retrieved 10 July 2017.
  18. "Kayla Clarke personal bests". Swimming Western Australia. Retrieved 18 August 2012.
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