Jacob
Templeton

Tasmania had a Paralympic or Olympic swimmer for the first time in more than two decades, thanks to Jacob Templeton who made his Paralympic debut at Rio 2016.

Born with retinitis pigmentosa, a degenerative eye disease, Jacob has been determined to become the best swimmer he can since learning to swim as a child.  Early in 2013 Jacob was nationally and internationally classified as a legally blind, visually impaired athlete.

Jacob caught the attention of Australian selectors at the 2013 Australian Short Course Championships where he won gold in the 50m and 100m multi-class freestyle, just missing both S13 world records. He also took silver in the 100m butterfly and a bronze medal in the 50m butterfly.

These performances saw Jacob join the Australian Bronze Squad and the Road to Rio Paralympic Development Squad for the Rio 2016 Paralympic Games. It also saw him join the high performance  Paralympic program at the University of the Sunshine Coast renowned under coach and 1984 Olympian Jan Cameron. After a few years of training there, he made the decision to relocate permanently.

Jacob made his debut for Australia at the 2014 Para Pan Pacs in Pasadena, California. He made his World Championship debut in 2015 in Glasgow, making the final of the S13 400m freestyle.

At the Rio 2016 Paralympic Games, Jacob competed in five events. He placed eighth in the 200m individual medley and sixth in the 500m freestyle. He also competed in the 50m freestyle, 100m freestyle and 100m butterfly but did not progress to the finals.

He looks up to both Ian Thorpe and Michael Phelps as his swimming inspiration and his philosophy is to do things properly and to 100% of his ability so he knows he is physically and mentally ready to race.

Jacob’s cousin Eli Templeton plays for the St. Kilda AFL Club and Jacob lists AFL Fantasy as one of his many hobbies.