Rachael Watson

Rachael Elizabeth Watson, (born 30 January 1992) is an Australian Paralympic swimmer. Watson represented Australia at the 2016 Rio Paralympics winning gold in the 50m Freestyle S4, a feat she repeated at the 2020 Tokyo Paralympics. She has a been selected to compete at the 2024 Summer Paralympics in Paris, France.

Personal
Watson was born on 30 January 1992. She is a triplet and has mild cerebral palsy however remained functionally independent and ambulant. In her early 20's she acquired Guillain Barre Syndrome that led to severe muscle weakness and peripheral nervous system damage resulting in quadriplegia requiring the use of a wheelchair.

Swimming
Watson took up swimming as part of her rehabilitation from Guillain Barre Syndrome. The majority of competitions are held in a multi class (MC) format where each athlete swims against the world record for their classification and the swimmer with the highest point score wins the race. Watson has myopia and is unable to see the results score board at the end of the pool so remains unaware of her placing until she is told.

At the 2016 Rio Paralympics, Watson won the gold medal in the Women's 50m Freestyle S4 in a Paralympic record time of 40.13. Watson became the first swimmer classed S5 or below, to win gold for Australia this millennium.

Watson qualified for the 2017 World Championships but the competition was cancelled due to a major earthquake in Mexico occurring just a fortnight prior to the event. In 2018, Watson was chosen to volunteer at the Gold Coast 2018 Commonwealth Games. She could not compete as her swimming classification was not included in this competition.

At the postponed 2020 Tokyo Paralympics, Watson won the gold medal in the Women's 50m freestyle S4 in a Paralympic record time of 39.36.

In 2022, Watson was chosen to volunteer at the Birmingham 2022 Commonwealth Games. She could not compete as her swimming classification was not included in this competition.

Watson trains at the Chandler Swimming Club in Brisbane with coach Matteo Melis.

Recognition

 * 2016 – Australian Institute of Sport Discovery of the Year
 * 2016 – Sporting Wheelies and Disabled Association Most Improved Athlete
 * 2017 – Medal of the Order of Australia
 * 2021 - University of Queensland Blue (university sport) Award for Sporting Excellence
 * 2022 - University of Queensland Sportswoman of the Year
 * 2023 - Australian Sports Medal