Sam Bramham certainly entered the Australian Paralympic team with a splash, breaking the world record in the heats of the 100m butterfly at the Athens Paralympics, his first race for the team. He later went on to win a bronze medal in the finals. In 2006, Sam managed to win the 100m butterfly in Berlin and again capture the world record.

Sam, like any other person his age, enjoys relaxing by hanging out with his mates and going to the movies to unwind. Apart from his professional swimming, Sam has also played various other sports such as AFL, rugby union and water polo.

His performances at the Beijing Games were his greatest so far and he has the medals to prove it. He was part of the gold medal winning 4x100m medley relay and the silver medal winning 4x100m freestyle relay which were the highlights of his campaign. While he is happy with his individual performances where he finished fourth in the 400m freestyle and seventh in the 100m butterfly, Sam wishes he had performed slightly better.

A mischief maker at heart, Sam has been known to use his disability to attract a few laughs. After faking a shark attack at a local beach with some McDonald’s tomato sauce, Sam and his friends spent the day in the Merimbula Police Station apologising.

However, when it comes to swimming, he is extremely focused. He is now training hard for London and will be juggling swimming with his architecture degree at RMIT.