Alexa Leary

Alexa Leary burst on to the Para swimming scene at the 2023 World Championships, where she won the gold medal in the 100m freestyle S9 in a time just 0.04s outside New Zealand great Sophie Pascoe’s championship record.

Ebullient, animated and fiercely determined, Alexa was earmarked as a potential star of Paris 2024 and she certainly lived up to that billing, winning gold in the 100m S9 in world record time and anchoring the mixed 4×100m medley 34 pts to a stirring gold medal in Paralympic record time. She was also part of the mixed 4×100 m freestyle 34 pts team that claimed silver. Her incredible performances earned her Paralympics Australia’s 2024 Rookie of the Year award.

Alexa had been a world-class junior triathlete. However, after a life-threatening high-speed cycling accident while training in mid-2021, she concentrated on swimming as part of her rehabilitation. Not one to do things by half, Alexa powered ahead in the sport, commanding a place on the Australian team two years later and announcing her arrival internationally at the World Championships.

With over 100,000 followers on Instagram, Alexa’s story has struck a chord with Australians who were inspired by her resilience and zest at the Paris Paralympics and continue to follow her pathway of ongoing recovery and pursuit of sporting excellence.