Rick Pendleton

Playing golf, watching movies. (swimming.org.au, 15 Sep 2019)

Winning gold in the 200m individual medley at the 2008 Paralympic Games in Beijing. (swimming.org.au, 15 Sep 2019)

His mother. (paralympic.org.au, 21 Jun 2012)

Australian swimmer Kieran Perkins. (paralympic.org.au, 21 Jun 2012)

He has torn ligaments in both knees. (catholicweekly.com, 09 Nov 2008)

"It only takes a moment to lose, it takes a lifetime to forget. Even coal under pressure becomes a diamond." (paralympic.org.au, 07 Jan 2010)

He received the Medal of the Order of Australia [OAM] in 2009. (motionmagazine.com.au, 12 May 2013)

He was born without his left hand. (paralympic.org.au, 07 Jan 2010)

IMPORTANCE OF ACCESSIBILITY
He says the standard of accessibility at facilities available to Para athletes can vary between Games and impact preparation. "I'm no stranger to competing at the top of my physical and mental game on the world's stage, after performing at four separate Paralympic Games, and soon to compete at Tokyo 2020. The quality and design of the Olympic facilities varies across each Games, and this can make an impact on an individual's performance in their events. The facilities in London [in 2012] and Beijing [in 2008] were very high standards, the way that they put things together, you could barely tell the difference between the Olympics and the Paralympics as to how things were operated and organised." (populous.com, 30 Oct 2020)

FAINTING SPELLS
As a teenager he would wear long-sleeve shirts to hide his left hand, even in hot Australian weather, which eventually contributed to fainting spells. "As a young boy growing up in the hustle-bustle inner city of Sydney, you are constantly faced with ever-changing cultural norms. As a person with a disability this can be even harder to navigate, as having a distinguishable difference can make you a target for ridicule and judgement. But I had a plan, I decided to put my hands in my pocket or simply wear a long sleeve jacket or shirts. It didn't pose too much of an issue in the winter. However, in the summer this was starting to cause some issues. One day I started feeling a little bit off. I wasn't sure what was going on but I understood well enough that I needed to find somewhere to sit down. The next thing I realised, I woke up on the ground looking at the roof. I got rushed to the hospital and had eight stitches put in my head. Soon after this incident my mother took me to see a doctor and they strapped an ECG machine on me that I had to wear around for 24 hours to figure out what was going on. When the results came back nothing apparent seem to show up. But the doctor said something about a 'cooked hypothalamus'. I have no idea if that is an actual condition, however still to this day I have fainting spells that can be triggered by heat, lack of food, lack of sleep, dehydration, or simply just by standing in a crowded place." (TEDx Talks YouTube channel, 25 Sep 2017)

OCCUPATION
In 2018 he began working as an assistant coach at Genesis Aquatic swimming club in Australia. (Facebook profile, 24 Dec 2020; populous.com, 30 Oct 2020; Genesis Sport and Aquatics Facebook page, 10 Sep 2020; LinkedIn profile, 01 Mar 2020)