Peter Leek

Peter Leek

Peter Leek multiple gold medallist at the 2008 Beijing Games
Personal information
Full name Peter Alan Stuart Leek
Nationality  Australia
Born (1988-09-27) 27 September 1988
Blacktown, New South Wales, Australia
Sport
Sport Swimming
Strokes Freestyle, butterfly, medley
Classifications S8, SB7, SM8
Club Cranbrook Eastern Edge

Peter Alan Stuart Leek, OAM[1] (born 27 September 1988)[2] was an Australian swimmer with ataxic cerebral palsy, who won eight medals at the 2008 Beijing Paralympics.[3]

Early life

Leek was born in the Sydney suburb of Blacktown. He began swimming at the age of eight to aid his disability.[2] He was a member of Ripples St Marys Swimming Club for 13 years. He attended Oxley Park Public School during his primary school years, and then Colyton High School.[4]

Career

His debut in major international competition was at the 2006 IPC Swimming World Championships in Durban, South Africa where he won two gold, two silver and one bronze medals.[2]

At the 2008 Beijing Games, he won three gold medals in the Men's 100 m Butterfly S8, Men's 200 m Individual Medley SM8, and Men's 4x100 m Medley 34 pts events, for which he received a Medal of the Order of Australia,[1] four silver medals in the Men's 50 m Freestyle S8, Men's 4x100 m Freestyle 34 pts, Men's 400 m Freestyle S8, and Men's 100 m Backstroke S8 events, and a bronze medal in the Men's 100 m Freestyle S8 event.[5] He broke four world records and four Paralympic records.[2]

He competed in the 2010 IPC Swimming World Championships, held in Eindhoven, Netherlands where he won six gold medals and one silver medal.[2] Leek's medals helped Australia's national Paralympic swim team finish sixth overall.

He missed the 2010 Commonwealth Games due to glandular fever.[6]

He was an Australian Institute of Sport scholarship recipient.[7]

Recognition

References

  1. 1 2 3 "Medal of the Order of Australia (OAM)". ABC News. 27 January 2009. Retrieved 30 December 2011.
  2. 1 2 3 4 5 "Peter Leek Athlete Profile". Australian Paralympic Committee. Retrieved 12 March 2012.
  3. "Peter Leek Profile". IPC Swimming. International Paralympic Committee. Retrieved 12 March 2012.
  4. Stevens, Kylie (29 September 2008). "Whirlwind trip for gold medallist Peter Leek". Penrith City Star. Retrieved 12 March 2012.
  5. "Athlete Search Results". International Paralympic Committee. Retrieved 12 March 2012.
  6. "Leek to miss Commonwealth Games due to glandular fever". Swimming Australia News, 21 September 2010. Swimming Australia.
  7. Wake 2010, p. 4
  8. "Cowdrey is the best of the best". Australian Paralympic Committee. 23 October 2008. Retrieved 12 March 2012.
  9. "Sports briefs". St Marys - Mt Druitt Star. 3 March 2009. Retrieved 12 March 2012.
  10. Rhodes, Brendan (26 August 2009). "Our humble hero: Peter Leek wins back to back award". Hawkesbury Gazette. Retrieved 12 March 2012.
  11. "Australia Day Awards". Penrith City Council Website. Retrieved 12 March 2012.
  12. "Coutts leads AIS to four trophies at Swimmer of the Year Awards". =Australian Sports Commission. 23 November 2010. Retrieved 12 March 2012.

Bibliography

  • Wake, Rebekka (September 2010). "Golden Glow Over Australian Swimming". Australian Paralympian. Australia: Australian Paralympic Committee. 2. 
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