Braedan Jason

Buderim’s Braedan Jason made a splash on the international Para-swim scene when he made his international debut at the 2015 IPC Swimming World Championships in Glasgow.

At just 16-years-old, he was one of six rookies on the team, and earned the honour of swimming into the top three in the world in the men’s 400m freestyle S13 event.

Braedan was born with cone dystrophy, a degenerative hereditary disease which has resulted in him having ten per cent vision and is now classed as legally blind. His brother, Nathan has also inherited the condition.

Nicknamed ‘Bat’, Braedan made his Paralympic debut at the Rio 2016 Paralympic Games. He competed in the 50m freestyle, 100m freestyle, 100m butterfly and 400m freestyle events. Although he didn’t achieve his goal of making a final, the taste of Paralympic competition made him hungry to get back to training post-Rio and aim higher for Tokyo 2020.

Braedan was born in Cronulla and began swimming at the age of eight, after getting involved in surf life saving.

He was a nipper at North Cronulla Surf Life Saving Club where he developed a real passion for the sport.

A move to Queensland’s Sunshine Coast saw him join the Alexandra Headlands Club where he has excelled in the sport ever since. He has competed in Ironman events for the club, including a ninth place finish in a field of 15 at the 2015 Australian Championships.

He has been training under esteemed coach Jan Cameron as part of the Paralympic Swimming Program at the University of the Sunshine Coast.