Prue Watt

Prue Watt

2012 Australian Paralympic Team portrait of Watt
Personal information
Full name	Prue Watt
Nationality	Australia
Born	(1987-01-01) 1 January 1987 (age 30) Newcastle, New South Wales, Australia
Height	1.68 m (5 ft 6 in)
Sport
Sport	Swimming
Strokes	Freestyle, butterfly, medley
Classifications	S13, SB13, SM13
Medal record Women's paralympic swimming Representing  Australia Paralympic Games 2012 London 100 m breaststroke SB13 2004 Athens 50 m freestyle S13 2004 Athens 100 m freestyle S13 2004 Athens 400 m freestyle S13 2004 Athens 100 m butterfly S13 2004 Athens 200 m medley SM13 2004 Athens 100 m breaststroke SB13 2012 London 50 m freestyle S13 World Championships (LC) 2006 Durban 100 m butterfly S13 2002 Mar Del Plata 100 m breaststroke S13 2002 Mar Del Plata 100 m butterfly S13

Prue Watt, OAM (born 1 January 1987, in Newcastle, New South Wales) is a Paralympic swimming gold medalist from Australia. She has represented Australia at the four Paralympics from 2004 to 2016.

Prudence Elise Watt was born on 1 January 1987 in Newcastle, New South Wales. She was born premature at 24 weeks and the high levels of oxygen in her system resulted in her retina being damaged. As a result, she can see about 2 meters ahead and has a limited amount of peripheral vision. Her vision impairment is labelled retinopathy of prematurity. In 2016, she is studying a Bachelor of Science, majoring in Neuroscience at University of New South Wales (UNSW). She is a recipient of a UNSW Ben Lexcen Sports Scholarship and is part of UNSW’s elite athlete program.

She began swimming at thirteen and at the age of fifteen, she first represented Australia internationally at the 2002 IPC Swimming World Championships, in Mar Del Plata, Argentina, where she won two bronze medals.

She became interested in swimming through surf life saving and was competing at state and national levels at the age of fourteen. In 2001, she was selected to tour Canada with the NSW Disabled Ski Team. This selection forced her to focus on swimming for her sporting career. She was an Australian Institute of Sport paralympic swimming scholarship holder from 2002 to 2011. She is currently a Victorian Institute of Sport scholarship holder.

She won five silver medals, and one bronze at the 2004 Athens Games, after competing in the Women's 100 m Butterfly S13 event, the Women's 100 m Freestyle S13 event, the Women's 200 m Individual Medley SM13 event, the Women's 400 m Freestyle S13 event and the Women's 50 m Freestyle S13 event. At the same games, she won a bronze medal in the Women's 100 m Breaststroke SB13 event. She competed at the 2008 Beijing Games but failed to win a medal.