AJ Jennings

Amanda Jane "AJ" Jennings (formerly Reynolds,[1] born 7 October 1971)[2] is an Australian paracanoeist who has won two gold medals at the ICF Canoe Sprint World Championships. She won a silver medal in the Women's 200m KL3 at the 2016 Rio Paralympics.[3][4]

AJ Jennings
2016 Australian Paralympic team portrait
Personal information
Full nameAmanda Jane Jennings
Nationality Australia
Born (1971-10-07) 7 October 1971
Sport
SportParacanoe
Disability classKL3
Medal record
Women's paracanoeing
Representing  Australia
Paralympic Games
Silver medal – second place 2016 Rio de Janeiro KL3
World Championships
Gold medal – first place 2015 Milan KL3
Gold medal – first place 2017 Račice KL3
Silver medal – second place 2016 Duisburg KL3
Silver medal – second place 2018 Montemor-o-Velho KL3
Bronze medal – third place 2014 Moscow K-1 LTA

Personal

Jennings was born on 7 October 1971 and lives in Macclesfield, Victoria.[2] In April 2012, Jennings underwent elective surgery to amputate the lower part of her right leg.[5] For 20 years before the amputation, Jennings lived with depression, chronic pain and an addiction to prescriptive drugs following complications from a dislocated knee.[5] In reflecting to life after the amputation, Jennings commented: "Everybody's got the opportunity. You've just got to have the courage to take it."[5]

She is an Equine Sports Therapist. Jennings is married to Wayne and they have two children.[6]

Sporting career

Jennings is classified as KL3 paracanoeist. Reynolds paddling career started with the Murray Marathon[2] and participated in the 2013 Sale to Sea Disability Kayak Challenge.[7] In 2014, she won the K1 200 m, K1 500 m and 1000 m LTA events at the National and Oceania Championships. In her world championships debut, she won the bronze medal in the Women's K1 200 m LTA at the 2014 ICF Canoe Sprint World Championships in Moscow, Russia. At the 2015 ICF Canoe Sprint World Championships in Milan, Italy, she won the gold medal in the Women's K–1 200 m KL3.[8]

At the 2016 ICF Paracanoe World Championships, Duisburg, Germany, she won the silver medal in the Women's 200 m KL3.[9] A month prior to the championships, she underwent an appendix operation.[10] She won a silver medal in the 200m KL3 at the 2016 Rio Paralympics where paracanoe made it Paralympics debut.[4]

At the 2017 ICF Canoe Sprint World Championships, Račice, Czech Republic, she won the gold medal in Women's KL2 200m.[11] After a year of battling injury, Reynolds at 2018 ICF Canoe Sprint World Championships, Montemor-o-Velho, won the silver medal in the Women's KL3 200m.[12]

At the 2019 ICF Canoe Sprint World Championships, Szeged, Hungary, she finished seventh in the Women's KL3 200m.[13]

At the 2020 Summer Paralympics, Jennings finished fifth in her Heat and eighth in the Women's KL3 semi-final and did not advance to the final.[14]

Jennings is a Victorian Institute of Sport scholarship holder and was originally coached by Steve Vegh and Mark Dougall.[2] In 2015, she moved to the Gold Coast, Queensland to work closer with National Para-canoe Head Coach Andrea King.[15] She named her new sprint canoe "Douglas" or "Doug" after two people that have inspired her - boxer James 'buster' Douglas and pilot Douglas Bader.[15]

Recognition

In 2015 and 2016, she was awarded the People's Choice Award at the Australian Canoeing Awards.[16][17]

References
  1. "AJ Jennings". Paralympics Australia. Archived from the original on 6 June 2021. Retrieved 6 June 2021.
  2. "Amanda Reynolds". Australian Canoeing website. Retrieved 23 August 2014.
  3. "World Champions headline first Australian Paralympic Canoe Team". Australian Paralympic Committee News, 16 June 2016. Retrieved 16 June 2016.
  4. "Amanda Reynolds". Rio Paralympics Official site. Archived from the original on 22 September 2016. Retrieved 16 September 2016.
  5. O'Sullivan, Karen (13 May 2014). "Vic amputee chases Paralympic dream". 7News Melbourne. Retrieved 23 August 2014.
  6. Bills, Rebecca (4 July 2014). "Amanda Reynolds has been selected for the Australian Paraylmpic Team". Rangers Trader. Retrieved 23 August 2014.
  7. "Sale to Sea challenge conquered". Gippsland Times. 18 March 2013. Retrieved 23 August 2014.
  8. "Reynolds wina Australia's first gold at World Championships". Australian Canoeing News, 21 August 2015. Archived from the original on 21 August 2015. Retrieved 23 August 2015.
  9. "McGrath snaps Swoboda's Worlds winning streak". International Paralympic Committee website. Retrieved 19 May 2016.
  10. "Another Honour for Reynolds (AUS)". International Canoe Federation website. Retrieved 19 May 2016.
  11. "Golden day for Australia at Para-canoe World Championships". Australian Paralympic Committee News, 265 August 2017. Retrieved 2 September 2017.
  12. "Silver Comeback For Amanda Reynolds". Paddle Australia website. Retrieved 26 August 2018.
  13. "Australia Finishes Success World Champs With More Tickets To Tokyo". Paddle Australia website. 26 August 2019. Retrieved 26 August 2019.
  14. "Australia Names Experienced Para-Canoe Squad For Tokyo". Paralympics Australia. 5 June 2021. Archived from the original on 5 June 2021. Retrieved 6 June 2021.
  15. "Reynolds inspired by war-time pilot in quest for Paralympic selection". Australian Paralympic Committee News, 11 February 2016. Retrieved 11 February 2016.
  16. "2015 Australian Canoeing Award Winners". Australian Canoeing website. Retrieved 15 November 2015.
  17. "2016 Australian Canoeing Award Winners". Australian Canoeing website. Retrieved 15 November 2016.
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