Triple Paralympic gold medallist Rick Pendleton has made a career out of succeeding against the odds. Launching his comeback to the pool after a hiatus following the 2008 Beijing Games, Rick proved he had lost none of his class at the 2011 CanAm Championships in the USA, taking home two gold in a haul of four medals. He won gold in the 200m butterfly and 100m breaststroke with the display again ensuring Rick will play a prominent role in the Australian team at London 2012.

Rick loves the underdog tag, believing even coal under pressure becomes a diamond. It is this attitude that pushes Rick in training for swimming glory. At the 2008 Beijing Games, he won three gold medals and smashed the world record in the 200m individual medley. The campaign was his most successful and he was both happy and relieved he performed to his best after four years of hard work.

Born missing his left hand, Rick was once a footballer before he tore ligaments in both knees, ending his career. Since taking to the pool, he hasn’t looked back. He competed at the 2004 Athens Paralympics where he finished fourth by 0.07 of a second in the 100m breaststroke, which he believes is his lowest sporting moment. Despite the setback, Rick did win his first Paralympic gold in the 4x100m relay. Soon afterwards, he performed strongly at the 2006 IPC World Swimming Championships with silver in the 200m individual medley and bronze in the 100m breaststroke.

Originally from Sydney, Rick has moved to train at state of the art facilities on the Sunshine Coast in preparation for London 2012. Training with a highly talented group of Paralympic swimmers under the tutelage of high performance coach Jon Shaw, Rick is the beneficiary of revolutionary new training technology. Known as the Orca Swim Tracker, a camera system that transmits above and below water images to a screen on pool deck, allowing for video analysis of Rick’s swimming technique.

Rick looks up to Kieran Perkins in the swimming world but, outside swimming, his mum is his greatest hero.