Annabelle Williams

Annabelle Josephine Williams was born on 21 July 1988 in Sydney, New South Wales.[1][3] As a youngster, she lived in Jakarta, Indonesia, only moving back to Australia when she was ten years old.[4] She has completed a degree in international relations and law at Bond University, Gold Coast, Queensland[3][5] and named Bond University Sportsperson of the year for 2007 and was a finalist for the Australian Universities Sportsperson of the Year for 2007.[2] While attending university, she completed a six-month internship in Paris, France,[3] where she worked for the Australian Embassy.[4] After the 2012 Paralympics, she completed an internship in Washington DC.[4] In 2015, Williams was appointed the Australian Olympic Committee's legal counsel.[6]

Williams is missing the lower part of her left arm as the result of a congenital limb deficiency.[2][4] She is 168 centimetres (66 in) tall and weighs 60 kilograms (130 lb).[1] Before becoming a swimmer, she was involved with athletics but had to leave the sport because of a stress fracture.[3][4]

Williams is an S9 swimmer[1][3][7] and was a member of the Cranbrook Eastern Edge SC.[1] Her main events are the 50 m, 100 m free, 50 m, and the 100 m fly.[1][7] In the 50 m freestyle event, her best time is 29.42 seconds, a time she set at the 2010 Commonwealth Games. Her personal best in the 100 m freestyle is 1:03.00, a time she set at the 2009 Australian Championships.[1]

Williams competed at the 2006 Commonwealth Games in Melbourne winning a silver medal in the Women's 50 m Freestyle S9 and a bronze in the Women's 100 m Multi Disability Freestyle.[1][5][8] In 2008, she was affiliated with the Miami Swimming Club, training five days a week with coaches Denis Cotterell and Raelene Ryan.[5] During the March 2008 Olympic Trials, she broke the 50 m butterfly world record in the morning during a semi-final and then broke it again in the evening during the event final. The 50 m event is not one she had actively trained for, because the distance was not on the 2008 Paralympic programme.[5] At the 2008 Beijing Games, she competed in three events and won a bronze medal in the Women's 100 m Butterfly S9 event.[1][8] She participated in the World Championships in Eindhoven, Netherlands in 2010 but did not medal.[1] At the 2009 Pan Pacific Championship in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil in the World Short Course, she earned a silver medal in the 100 m fly event.[1]

While completing her Paris internship, she trained at a local French swimming club ahead of the Commonwealth Games.[3] At the 2010 Commonwealth Games in Delhi, she won a silver medal in the Women's 50 m Freestyle S9.[1][9] In preparation for the 2012 Summer Paralympics, she was one of 14 Australian Paralympic swimmers to participate in a training camp start on 13 May 2012 and ending 29 May at British International School Phuket.[4] At the 2000 Games, she finished sixth in the Women's 50m Freestyle S9, seventh in the Women's 100m Freestyle S9 and was a member of the team that the gold medal in the Women's 4 × 100 m Medley Relay 34 Points.[10] In the lead up to the Games, Williams trained on the Gold Coast in Queensland at Pizzey Park where she was coached by Denis Cotterell.[1][3]

Williams at the 2012 London Paralympics

She was awarded an Order of Australia Medal in the 2014 Australia Day Honours "for service to sport as a Gold Medallist at the London 2012 Paralympic Games."[11]

Wikinews has related news:

• 2012 Australian Paralympic swim team announced

• Annabelle Williams at Paralympics Australia (archived)
• Annabelle Williams at the International Paralympic Committee
• Annabelle Williams at IPC.InfostradaSports.com (archived)
• Annabelle Williams on Instagram