Tracey Cross

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. Cross developed her passion for massage after she sustained a neck and shoulder injury while training for the 2000 Sydney Paralympics.[3][4]

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, 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]

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[10] and came seventh in the heats of the Women's 400 m Freestyle B2 event.[11]

She spoke the Paralympic oath at the opening ceremony of the 2000 Sydney Paralympics.[12] 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[13] and eighth in the Women's 100 m Backstroke S11 event.[14]

In 1993, Cross received a Medal of the Order of Australia for her 1992 Paralympic gold medals.[1] In that year, she also received the Western Australian Citizen of the Year Award in the Youth category.[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] In 2009, she was inducted into the Swimming Western Australia Hall of Fame.[18]