Julia Gaffney
Julia Kay Gaffney (born January 5, 2000) is an American Paralympic swimmer who competes in international level events. She was born with proximal femoral focal deficiency and had her right leg with amputated above the knee and her left leg amputated below the knee due to fibular hemimelia when she was born.[1][2]
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| Full name | Julia Kay Gaffney | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Born | 5 January 2000 Russia | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Home town | Mayflower, Arkansas, United States | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Height | 5 ft 3 in (160 cm) (with prosthetics) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Weight | 100 lb (45 kg) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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| Sport | Paralympic swimming | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Disability | Proximal femoral focal deficiency Fibular hemimelia | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Disability class | S7 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Club | AquaKids Swim Team, Conway, Arkansas | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Coached by | Tony Marleneanu | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Medal record
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Gaffney was brought up in a Russian orphanage before being adopted by an American family from Arkansas when she was five years old.
Sporting career
Gaffney wanted to play softball but due to her disability circumstances she found it too difficult, she was then encouraged to take swimming lessons and she started competing in 2014. Her first international debut in competitive swimming was in California at the World Para Swimming World Series, she met her idol Jessica Long and Paralympic swimming coach Queenie Nichols who both inspired and influenced her to continue her swimming efforts.[3]
At the 2017 World Para Swimming Championships in Mexico City, Gaffney won her first medals in the pool: five silver medals. In London, two years later at the 2019 World Para Swimming Championships, Gaffney became a world champion in the women's 200m individual medley SM7 where she was 0.02 seconds ahead of defending champion Tess Routliffe and Mallory Weggemann.[4]
References
- "Julia Gaffney - IPC Athlete Bio". ipc.infostradasports.com. 29 June 2020.
- "Julia Gaffney - Team USA". United States Olympic Committee. 29 June 2020.
- "Julia Gaffney - Move United". Move United. 29 June 2020.
- "At Just 18, Swimmer Julia Gaffney is Already a Six-Time World Championship Medalist". United States Olympic Committee. 7 August 2018.