Lakeisha
Patterson

As successful a Para-swimmer as Lakeisha ‘Lucky’ Patterson is, it is sheer commitment – not luck – that has overseen her rise to the top of her sport.

Lucky, who competes as an athlete with cerebral palsy after a stroke at birth, but also has epilepsy and micrographia, was first introduced to Paralympic sport at a Paralympics Australia Talent Search Day in 2012. It was there that she met three-time Paralympian Michael Anderson, who helped her to realise she had what it took to race alongside the world’s best.

Launching her competitive career in 2013, Lucky received her first Australian cap – and a bronze medal to boot – at the 2014 Commonwealth Games in Glasgow, Scotland. But it was another year before she really gave her S8 peers something to think about, and that was when she returned home from the 2015 World Championships with one gold, two silver and two bronze medals.

But even then, Lucky was only just getting started. She was the first Australian to be crowned champion at the Rio 2016 Paralympic Games, with gold in the women’s 400m freestyle S8 in a new world record time of 4:40:33, and alongside Ellie Cole, won the most number of medals for Australia with two gold, three silver and one bronze.

The 2018 Commonwealth Games saw Lucky twice reach the top of the podium, and again in the women’s 400m freestyle S9 at the 2019 World Para-swimming Championships.

At her second Paralympic Games at Tokyo 2020, Lucky held on to win the gold in the women’s 400m freestyle S9 – exactly five years to the day after she won the same event at the Rio Paralympics.