Tracey Cross

Tracey Cross

Cross takes the official Athletes Oath at the 2000 Summer Paralympics Opening Ceremony
Personal information
Full name	Tracey Nicole Cross
Nationality	Australia
Born	4 December 1972 Bunbury, Western Australia
Medal record Swimming Paralympic Games 1992 Barcelona Women's 100 m Freestyle B1 1992 Barcelona Women's 400 m Freestyle B1 1996 Atlanta Women's 100 m Butterfly B1 1996 Atlanta Women's 200 m Medley B1 1992 Barcelona Women's 100 m Backstroke B1 1992 Barcelona Women's 200 m Medley B1 1996 Atlanta Women's 50 m Freestyle B1 2000 Sydney Women's 100 m Freestyle S11 2000 Sydney Women's 400 m Freestyle S11 2000 Sydney Women's 50 m Freestyle S11 World Championships and Games for the Disabled 1990 Assen Women's 100 m Freestyle B1

Tracey Nicole Cross, OAM^[1] (born 4 December 1972)^[2] is an Australian visually impaired swimmer. She won ten medals at three Paralympics, from 1992 to 2000.

Personal

Cross was born in the Western Australian city of Bunbury on 4 December 1972.^[2] She has been blind since birth; in a 2000 interview, she said that the light perception that she had in one eye was "almost useless".^[3] She was left out of sporting activities at school, and started swimming at the age of 15.^[3] She took the sport casually at first, but took it more seriously when she found that she had a natural aptitude for swimming.^[3]

In 1994, she obtained a law degree from Murdoch University. After working in that field for some years, she became a massage therapist; she works in a natural health clinic in West Perth.^[3][4]

Swimming career

Action shot of Cross in the pool during competition at the 2000 Summer Paralympics

Cross won her first international gold medal in the women's 400 m Freestyle B1 at the 1990 World Championships and Games for the Disabled in Assen, Netherlands.^[5][6]

At the 1992 Barcelona Games, she won two gold medals in the Women's 100 m Freestyle B1 and Women's 400 m Freestyle B1 events, for which she won a Medal of the Order of Australia,^[1] and two silver medals in the Women's 100 m Backstroke B1 and Women's 200 m Medley B1 events;^[7] she also came fourth in both the Women's 100 m Butterfly B1^[8] and Women's 50 m Freestyle B1 events.^[9] In 1993, she received the Western Australian Citizen of the Year Award in the Youth category.^[10]

She won two gold medals at the 1996 Atlanta Games in the Women's 100 m Butterfly B1 and the Women's 200 m Medley B1 events, and a silver medal in the Women's 50 m Freestyle B1 event;^[7] she also came fifth in the Women's 100 m Backstroke B1 event^[11] and came seventh in the heats of the Women's 400 m Freestyle B2 event.^[12]

She spoke the Paralympic oath at the opening ceremony of the 2000 Sydney Paralympics.^[13] In the competition, she received two silver medals in the Women's 100 m Freestyle S11 and the Women's 400 m Freestyle S11 events, and a bronze medal in the Women's 50 m Freestyle S11 event;^[7] she also came fifth in the Women's 200 m Medley SM11 event^[14] and eighth in the Women's 100 m Backstroke S11 event.^[15]

On 14 November 2000, she received an Australian Sports Medal "For Service to Sport as a gold Medallist at the Paralympic Games".^[16] She received a Centenary Medal on 1 January 2001 "For service to the community through Paralympic swimming".^[17]

References