Russell Boaden

Personal

Boaden was born on 15 December 1969. His brachial plexus was damaged as a result of a motorbike accident.

Career

He won a bronze medal at the 2008 Beijing Games in the Mixed Three Person Sonar event. At the 2013 IFDS World Championships in Kinsale, Ireland, he teamed with Jonathan Harris and Colin Harrison to win the bronze medal in the Sonar Class. In October 2013, the trio were named Yachting Australia's Sailors of the Year with a Disability. At the 2014 IFDS World Championships in Halifax, Canada, Boaden teamed with Harrison and Harris to win the bronze medal in the Sonar Class. In November 2014, Boaden shared the Yachting Australia Sailor of the Year with a Disability award with Daniel Fitzgibbon, Liesl Tesch, Colin Harrison, Jonathan Harris and Matthew Bugg. The Australian team of six sailors beat Great Britain by one point at the IFDS World Championship.

At the 2015 IFDS Championships in Australia, he teamed with Colin Harrison and Jonathan Harris to win the silver medal behind the Great Britain crew. Their score was 37.0 to Great Britain's 36.0. Boaden, Harris and Harrison won the bronze medal in the Mixed Three Person Sonar class at the 2016 World Championships held in Medemblik, Netherlands. They won the gold medal in the Mixed Three Person Sonar class at 2016 Summer Paralympics. During the event they had three first placings and four second placings. He was awarded the Order of Australia Medal in 2017.