Full name Katja Dedekind Sport Swimming Club UQ Swim Club | Nationality Australia Classifications S13 | |
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Born 17 August 2001 (age 15) ( 2001-08-17 ) Durban, South Africa | ||
True story tuesday katja dedekind dave heyden
Katja Dedekind (born 17 August 2001) is an Australian Paralympic vision impaired swimmer and goalball player. She won a swimming bronze medal at the 2016 Rio Paralympics.
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Personal
Dedekind was born 17 August 2001 in Durban, South Africa. She has a twin brother. In 2016, she lives in Kenmore, Queensland and attends Kenmore State High School.
Sporting career
Dedekind competes in swimming and goalball. In swimming, she is classified as S13. She took up swimming at an early age with her twin brother. At the 2015 Swimming Queensland Sprint Championships, she was awarded the Swimmer of the Meet award for swimmers with disability. In 2015, she won three gold and five silver medals at the 2015 SSA Pacific School Games. At 2016 Australian Swimming Championships, she won the bronze medal in the Women's 200m Freestyle and finished fifth Women's 50m backstroke and Women's 50m butterfly. She is a member of the UQ Swim Club and coached by David Heyden.
She took up goalball in 2012 after attending a ‘come and try’ day. At the 2012, Australian Goalball Championships in Melbourne, she was awarded the title ‘Best Defensive Junior Player’. She was a member of the winning team at the 2013 Australian Invitational Cup in Sydney.
In 2016, Dedekind was selected to represent at the 2016 Rio Paralympics. She competed in four events and achieved one podium finish. She won a bronze medal in the Women's 100 m Backstroke S13. She achieved seventh in 400m Freestyle S13. but didn't progress to the finals in 50m Freestyle S13, 100m Freestyle S13 and 100m Freestyle S13.
Her motto is " If it doesn't challenge you, it doesn't change you".