Priya Cooper
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| Personal information | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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| Full name | Priya Naree Cooper | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Nationality |
 Australia
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| Born |
2 October 1974 South Perth, Western Australia |
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| Sport | Swimming | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Strokes | Backstroke, Individual Medley, Freestyle, Butterfly | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Club | Swan Hills Swimming Club | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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Medal record
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Priya Naree Cooper, OAM (born 2 October 1974) is an Australian world champion disabled swimmer, winning nine Paralympic gold medals as well as world records and world championships. She competed in the Australian 1992, 1996 and 2000 Summer Paralympics swimming team with an S8 classification. She was twice the co-captain of the Australian Paralympic team, including at the 2000 Paralympic Games in Sydney, and carried the Australian flag at the closing ceremonies for the 1992 and 1996 Summer Paralympics. Cooper has cerebral palsy and spends much of her time in a wheelchair. She attended university, working on a course in health management. After she ended her competitive Paralympic career, she became a commentator, and covered the swimming events at the 2002 Commonwealth Games.
Priya Naree Cooper was born on 2 October 1974 in Perth, Western Australia. She was born with cerebral palsy, and spends 75% of her time in a wheelchair. As a youngster, her mother encouraged her to try out several sports, including tap dancing and ballet.
With her father's encouragement, Cooper first started swimming in her backyard pool when she was six years old. Her first swimsuit was a bikini. Her father taught her to swim while making her wear big yellow floaties. She started competitive swimming at school carnivals. In the first one she competed in, she finished sixth in the F-division 50 m butterfly. She was informed about disabled athletes by a teacher at school. Her initial reaction to learning about disabled sport was to question if she was "disabled enough" to compete. She made her first national team appearance when she was in year 12 in school, after winning twelve gold medals in national swimming meets. By that time, Cooper had already begun serious training, waking up at 4 a.m. to get pool time.
Cooper is a world champion disabled swimmer, winning nine Paralympic gold medals as well as world records and world championships. She represented Wheelchair Sports Western Australia at the 1991 National Wheelchair Games, winning nine gold medals. Her home pool was the Swan Park Leisure Centre in Midvale, Western Australia. She had a number of coaches over the course of her competitive career, including Matthew Brown and Frank Ponta.
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