Priya Cooper

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Australian Paralympic swimmer (born 1974)

title: "Priya Cooper" type: doc version: 1 created: 2026-02-28 author: "Wikipedia contributors" status: active scope: public tags: ["paralympic-swimmers-for-australia", "paralympic-gold-medalists-for-australia", "paralympic-silver-medalists-for-australia", "paralympic-bronze-medalists-for-australia", "swimmers-at-the-1992-summer-paralympics", "swimmers-at-the-1996-summer-paralympics", "swimmers-at-the-2000-summer-paralympics", "medalists-at-the-1992-summer-paralympics", "medalists-at-the-1996-summer-paralympics", "medalists-at-the-2000-summer-paralympics", "sportswomen-from-western-australia", "swimmers-from-perth,-western-australia", "australian-female-freestyle-swimmers", "australian-female-backstroke-swimmers", "australian-female-medley-swimmers", "australian-female-butterfly-swimmers", "australian-institute-of-sport-paralympic-swimmers", "western-australian-institute-of-sport-alumni", "australian-sports-commentators", "swimming-commentators", "cerebral-palsy-category-paralympic-competitors", "swimmers-with-cerebral-palsy", "recipients-of-the-medal-of-the-order-of-australia", "recipients-of-the-australian-sports-medal", "sport-australia-hall-of-fame-inductees", "curtin-university-alumni", "1974-births", "living-people", "paralympic-medalists-in-swimming", "s8-classified-para-swimmers", "21st-century-australian-sportswomen", "20th-century-australian-sportswomen"] description: "Australian Paralympic swimmer (born 1974)" topic_path: "sports" source: "https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Priya_Cooper" license: "CC BY-SA 4.0" wikipedia_page_id: 0 wikipedia_revision_id: 0

::summary Australian Paralympic swimmer (born 1974) ::

::data[format=table title="Infobox swimmer"]

FieldValue
namePriya Cooper
image35 ACPS Atlanta 1996 Swimming Priya Cooper.jpg
captionCooper in 1996
fullnamePriya Naree Cooper
nationalityAustralian
strokesBackstroke, individual medley, freestyle, butterfly
clubSwan Hills Swimming Club
birth_date
birth_placeSouth Perth, Western Australia
medaltemplates{{MedalCount
::

| name = Priya Cooper | image = 35 ACPS Atlanta 1996 Swimming Priya Cooper.jpg | imagesize = | caption = Cooper in 1996 | fullname = Priya Naree Cooper | nicknames = | nationality = Australian | strokes = Backstroke, individual medley, freestyle, butterfly | club = Swan Hills Swimming Club | collegeteam = | birth_date = | birth_place = South Perth, Western Australia | death_date = | death_place = | height = | weight = | medaltemplates= {{MedalCount |Paralympic Games|9|3|4 |World Championships (LC)|8|2|0 |Total|17|5|4 Priya Naree Cooper, (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 swimming team at the 1992, 1996 and 2000 Summer Paralympics 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.

Early life

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, she was encouraged by her mother 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 carnival 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 make sure she had time in the pool.

Competitive athletic career

::figure[src="https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/e/ef/231000_-Swimming_400m_freestyle_S8_Priya_Cooper_gold_medal_podium-3b-_2000_Sydney_podium_photo.jpg" caption="Cooper shown smiling on the gold medal podium for her win in the 400 m freestyle S8 at the 2000 Summer Paralympics"] ::

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.

At the age of 17, Cooper made her Paralympic debut at the 1992 Summer Paralympics in Barcelona. She won three gold and two silver medals, and broke two world records and three Paralympic records. She was offered a non-residential Australian Institute of Sport Athletes with a Disability swimming scholarship in 1993 and was supported until 2000.

Cooper was a co-captain of the Australian team at the 1996 Summer Paralympics, where she competed in six individual events and two relay events in the S8 class, winning five gold medals, four individual and one team, one silver medal and one bronze medal. She set world records at the 1996 Paralympic Games in Atlanta in the 200 m medley and the 400 m freestyle swimming events. She also set personal bests in the 100 m backstroke and 100 m freestyle. Her world record time in the 400 m freestyle was 5:11.47, her 100 m backstroke time was 1:23.43, and her 100 m freestyle time was 1:12.08.

::figure[src="https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/4/4e/30_ACPS_Atlanta_1996_Swimming_Priya_Cooper.jpg" caption="Australian swimmer Priya Cooper competes in backstroke in the S8 class at the 1996 Atlanta Paralympic Games" alt="A woman swims the backstroke between two lanes in a swimming pool."] ::

In 1998, Cooper competed at the Paralympic Swimming World Championships in Christchurch, New Zealand. She set a world record in the 400m freestyle at the event. She set another world record in the S8 classification, with an 800m freestyle time of 10:40.03, three seconds faster than the previous record. She also won a gold medal in the 200m individual medley, with a finish that was half a second away from beating her own previous world record.

Cooper competed at the Sporting Wheelies and Disabled Association-sponsored 1998 Queensland Championships in five swimming events. She and Brad Thomas were invited to attend as special guest competitors. While attending, Cooper also hosted a coaching clinic with Thomas.

In 1999, Cooper moved to Sydney, the location of the 2000 Summer Paralympics, to prepare for the Games. She had been living there for eighteen months at the beginning of the Games. Her family continued to live in Perth and the move was an adjustment period for her.

::figure[src="https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/f/fb/07_ACPS_Atlanta_1996_Swimming_Priya_Cooper_Gold_Medal.jpg" caption="Australian swimmers Priya Cooper (gold) and Janelle Falzon (bronze) on the medal dais at the 1996 Atlanta Paralympic Games" alt="Three women stand holding flowers over their heads on a medal stands"] ::

At the 2000 Summer Paralympics, her last games, she was the co-captain of the Australian Paralympic team. Coming into the 2000 Games, there were some concerns that she would not be able to compete because of a shoulder injury. She was worried about how receptive Australians and the world would be in terms of disabled sport prior to the Paralympics being hosted in Australia. She was surprised when the Paralympic Games started at how supportive Australians and international visitors were of athletes at the 2000 Paralympic Games. After the Games, Cooper believed that they had a long reaching societal impact in terms of creating a better image for disabled people around the country and helping to increase acceptance of them as part of Australian society. She also believed that the Games would help increase spectatorship for Paralympic sports around the country.

Cooper's swimming style relied on upper body strength, with her legs trailing behind her. Despite her love of water, Cooper had a fear of swimming in the open water of the ocean. To help overcome this fear, she competed in the 2002 open water 20 km Rottnest Channel Swim in Western Australia.

Recognition

::figure[src="https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/d/d2/06_ACPS_Atlanta_1996_Opening_Ceremony_Priya_Cooper.jpg" caption="Cooper with a teammate at the opening ceremony of the 1996 Atlanta Paralympic Games" alt="Two people standing on folding chairs and holding small Australian flags"] ::

Cooper was selected to carry the Australian flag at the closing ceremonies for the 1992 and 1996 Summer Paralympics. was the Young Australian of the Year for Sport in 1999, and was inducted into the Western Australian Hall of Champions in 2006 and the Swimming Western Australia Hall of Fame in 2008. In 1998, Cooper won a Dairy Farmers Sporting Chance award in swimming. That year, she also won a Curtin University of Technology John Curtin Medal. In 1999, she won the APC Merit Award.

Cooper was chosen to officially open the Stadium at Curtin University in 2009. She attended the tenth anniversary celebrations for the Sydney Olympic and Paralympic Games held at Sydney Olympic Park in 2010.

In October 2015, she became the fourth Paralympian to be inducted into the Sport Australia Hall of Fame.

In 2022, she was inducted into Paralympics Australia Hall of Fame. In November 2023, Cooper was up[graded to Legend status in Western Australian Hall of Champions. In 2024, inducted into Swimming Australia Hall of Fame.

Personal life

Cooper studied at Curtin University, where she graduated with a degree in health promotion and media. She was also a public speaker, attending events to talk about disabilities. Cooper had a volunteer position, where she worked as a scriptwriter for a radio station in Perth.

Cooper was a commentator for the 2002 Commonwealth Games, covering the swimming events. She is a Therapy Focus Ambassador, and a member of the Disabilities and Carer Council. She is actively involved in raising funds for several charities, and was part of the Great Pram Push event held in East Fremantle, Western Australia, a charity event that raised funds for the Starlight Children's Foundation and the Children's Leukaemia and Cancer Research Foundation.

In 2022, she was appointed chair of the Western Australian Institute of Sport but resigned in 2023.

Cooper is married to Paralympic swimmer Rodney Bonsack and has two children. Bonsack had both legs severed above the knees in an aircraft accident in 1987. Cooper and her husband run a motivational business, Success is a Choice Global, which is designed to help people maximise their lives.

References

References

  1. ''W.A. Hall of Champions'' inductee booklet. (2006) Published by the [[Western Australian Institute of Sport]]. p. 24.
  2. "Priya Cooper OAM". Wheelchair Sports WA Association.
  3. Reed, Ron. (18 August 1996). "Pride and pressure". The Sunday Telegraph.
  4. MATP. (12 October 1998). "Postcard: Competitive Edge: Priya Cooper, swimmer". The Australian.
  5. Horsburgh, Susan. (16 October 2000). "Para Troopers". Time Magazine.
  6. (26 July 2011). "Disabilities and Carer Council Members". Disabilities and Carer Council.
  7. (3 June 2011). "Paralympian dies". Nationwide News Pty Limited.
  8. Australian Paralympic Federation. (November 1992). "Thrilling competition in Barcelona". Australian Paralympic Federation.
  9. (1993). "Australian Institute of Sport Athletes with Disability 1993". Australian Sports Commission.
  10. (2002). "Excellence: Australian Institute of Sport". Australian Sports Commission.
  11. (1998). "Australian women in the Olympic Games: an Olympic journey: the story of women in the Olympic Games". Australian Sports Commission.
  12. (1996). "Atlanta 1996: official publication of the U.S. Olympic Committee.". Commemorative Publications.
  13. Richard Cashman, Simon Darcy. (2008). "Benchmark Games: The Sydney 2000 Paralympic Games". Benchmark Games.
  14. Australian Paralympic Federation. (1996). "Success for Superteam". Golden Days of Atlanta: XTH Paralympic Games Atlanta, Georgia, August 15–25, 1996.
  15. (1996). "Atlanta 1996: official publication of the U.S. Olympic Committee.". Commemorative Publications.
  16. (1996). "Atlanta 1996: official publication of the U.S. Olympic Committee.". Commemorative Publications.
  17. Brook, Stephen. (4 November 1998). "Curtin spirit lives on in medals". The Australian.
  18. (16 October 1998). "Swimming". The Advertiser.
  19. (14 October 1998). "Swimming". The Advertiser.
  20. (13 November 1998). "Titles for Disabled". Albert & Logan News.
  21. (1 December 1998). "Waldon Throws a Record". Caboolture Shire Herald.
  22. Ragg, Mark. (19 October 1999). "Paralympians' Holy Grail: gold backed by '80s beat". The Sydney Morning Herald.
  23. Sydney Paralympic Organising Committee. (21 October 2000). "Priya's type of town". Sydney Paralympic Organising Committee.
  24. (21 September 2010). "Swimmer's goose bumps return". Inner West Courier – Inner West Edition.
  25. "Priya Cooper OAM". lunboxlunchlist.com.
  26. (2008). "Benchmark games: the Sydney 2000 Paralympic Games". Walla Walla Press in conjunction with the Australian Centre for Olympic Studies, University of Technology, Sydney.
  27. (17 February 2002). "Priya waves goodbye to fear in Rotto swim". Sunday Times.
  28. "Cooper, Priya Naree, OAM". It's an Honour.
  29. "Western Australian Hall of Champions: Priya Cooper". Western Australian Institute for Sport.
  30. "Hall of Fame". Swimming Western Australia.
  31. Dixon, Catriona. (7 November 1998). "Dunn helped in Olympic bid". The Daily Telegraph.
  32. (30 November 1999). "In Brief". The Australian.
  33. Online Editor. (23 October 2009). "Curtin Stadium launch". Curtin University.
  34. (20 October 2015). "Cooper swims into Hall of Fame".
  35. (9 June 2022). "De Rozario And Tudhope Earn Top Honours at Paralympics Australia Awards".
  36. (9 November 2023). "'There are no limits': How Priya Cooper became a Legend".
  37. Correspondent, Ian Hanson-Oceania. (14 September 2024). "Andrew 'Boy' Charlton, Kieren Perkins and Priya Cooper Inducted Into Swimming Australia's Hall Of Fame".
  38. (14 September 2010). "Including others is message of kids book". Eastern Reporter.
  39. (13 April 2010). "Bubs jockey for pole position". Fremantle-Cockburn Gazette.
  40. (9 September 2022). "WAIS welcomes Priya Cooper as new Chair among four new Board appointments".
  41. (12 September 2023). "Dr Neale Fong appointed new chair of WAIS after board turmoil".
  42. Wake, Rebekka. (15 September 2010). "Paralympic legend helps celebrate 10 years". [[Australian Paralympic Committee]].
  43. Butler, Steve. (20 October 2015). "Hall of fame for swim queen". The West Australian.

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