Cameron Leslie is a Paralympic swimmer and a Wheel Black. He is the world record holder and three-time Paralympic gold medallist in the Men’s Individual Medley 150m SM4.

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Born and raised in Whangarei, Leslie took up swimming aged 11 but after he was soundly beaten on his debut appearance at the 2006 IPC Swimming World Championships he admits he “nearly gave the sport away“ only to be persuaded to carry on by his parents. It proved an inspired decision as Cameron relocated to Auckland to hook up with a new coach, Simon Mayne, and the pair opted to try a new event – the Men’s 150m Individual Medley SM4.

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In their first full year together, Cameron blitzed to “a shock“ gold medal in a world record time in their new event at the Beijing 2008 Paralympics – a feat he was to repeat at the London 2012 and Rio 2016 Paralympic Games.

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With a gold medal and world record at the Rio 2016 Paralympics, Cameron’s exceptional performance shone among a stand-out team of 31 Paralympians. The New Zealand Paralympic Team secured a stunning 21 medals across 12 individual medallists (nine gold, five silver and seven bronze). The Team ranked first in the world per capita and 13th in the world overall.

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Selected to the Paralympic Team for Tokyo 2020, Cameron had to withdraw. His second child was due, and with COVID restrictions in place, he wouldn’t be able to return home quickly if he was needed.

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In 2022, Cameron showed that he had no intentions of slowing down, however, as he won a gold and three silver medals at the World Para Swimming Championships in Madeira. He also set a new world record, though this was later beaten by another competitor.

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Cameron’s first got involved in wheelchair rugby following a Have a Go Day in 2007 and loved “the energy“ of the sport so much that he started training twice a week with the Auckland team before later graduating to the Wheel Blacks.

 

Leslie graduated with a Bachelor of Communications Studies from Auckland University of Technology, majoring in journalism. He is also a former sports editor of a leading regional daily newspaper.

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Cameron Leslie was most recently nominated for a Laureus Award - Sportsperson of the Year with a Disability.

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Sources - 

1. Paralympic Team New Zealand