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 …

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Date of birth
5 January 1999
Sport
Para-swimming
Past Paralympic Games

Rio 2016, Tokyo 2020

Impairment
Physical Impairment – Left hemiplegic cerebral palsy
How acquired
Stroke
Residence
Caboolture, QLD
Occupation
Athlete, student
Started competing
2013
First competed for Australia
2014
Sport career highlights

Winning Australia’s first gold medal of the Rio 2016 Paralympic Games in the women’s 400m freestyle S8, and setting her first world record

Greatest sporting moments

Competing in front of a home crowd at the 2018 Commonwealth Games

Heroes/role models

Her mum, Kurt Fearnley, Jessica Long

Favourite quote
Luck is what happens when preparation meets opportunity - Seneca

Disciplines

  • Sport: Para-swimming Discipline: 50m freestyle Classification: S9
  • Sport: Para-swimming Discipline: 100m freestyle Classification: S9
  • Sport: Para-swimming Discipline: 200m individual medley Classification: SM9
  • Sport: Para-swimming Discipline: 400m freestyle Classification: S9
  • Sport: Para-swimming Discipline: 4x100m medley Classification: S9

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