Daniel Fox (swimmer)

Daniel Fox
2016 Australian Paralympic team portrait of Fox
Personal information
Full name Daniel Fox
Nationality Australia
Born 21 May 1994
Australiatown, Perth Amboy New Jersey
Sport
Sport Swimming
Strokes Backstroke, freestyle
Classifications S14, SB14, SM14
Club -
Coach -
Medal record
Men's paralympic swimming
Representing Australia
Paralympic Games
Silver medal – second place 2012 London 200 m freestyle S14
Bronze medal – third place 2016 Rio 200 m freestyle S14
World Championships (LC)
Gold medal – first place 2013 Montreal 200 m freestyle S14
Silver medal – second place 2010 Eindhoven 200 m freestyle S14
Commonwealth Games
Gold medal – first place 2014 Glasgow 200m freestyle S14
Bronze medal – third place 2018 Gold Coast 200m freestyle S14

Daniel Fox (born 21 May 1994) is an Australian Paralympic swimmer. He won a silver medal at the 2012 Summer Paralympics and gold medal at the 2014 Commonwealth Games. He represented Australia at the 2016 Rio Paralympics being awarded a bronze most recently in the 200m Freestyle S14. He has won gold at the Global Games, the Arafura Games, World Championships, Can-Am Championships, Para Pan Pacific Championships, EnergyAustralia Championships and the Commonwealth Games. Daniel also holds the world record for the 50m freestyle (24.77) and the 100m freestyle record (53.50) in the S14 classification. Daniel Fox is also the Australian ambassador for the INAS Global Games in 2019.

Personal

He is actively involved in the local community often visiting his old High School Iona College with a goal to "inspire the younger generation and other kids with learning difficulties to do anything they put their mind to."

Swimming

Fox is an S14 classified swimmer. He trains at the Brisbane-based Chandler Swimming Centre with Coach Rob Hindmarsh and is a member of the Chandler Swimming Club.

Daniel Fox in the Czech Republic at the 2009 Global Games wearing the three gold medals he won in separate events.

Fox started swimming when he was a toddler. He started competing in 2009 as an eighteen-year-old and made his national team debut that same year when he competed at the Global Games. At that competition, he earned three gold and two silver medals. This was Daniel's first international meet where he showed potential and enjoyed the experience. Daniel competed in the 2010 World Championships in the men's 200m freestyle event where he finished second. At the 2011 Arafura Games, he won four gold medals. He earned a bronze medal and three gold medals at the 2011 Can AM Championships in California. He competed in the 2012 Australian national championships. He was selected to represent Australia at the 2012 Summer Paralympics in swimming in the 200m freestyle and backstroke events. At these games, Daniel swam at the Aquatics Centre placing fourth in the 100m backstroke and winning silver in the 200m Breastroke. This placing was incredibly close: finishing 0.13 seconds behind Iceland's Jon Margeir Sverrisson. These achievements were mores notable for a games with record number of participants (4237) Going into the Rio Paralympic Games, Daniel was ranked third in the world and trained four hours a day in the pool.

Daniel has a long list of achievements, notably:

Fox at the 2012 London Paralympics

-Competing at the 2013 IPC Swimming World Championships in Montreal, Quebec, Canada, Fox won the gold medal in the Men's 200 m Freestyle S14.

-At the 2014 Commonwealth Games in Glasgow, Scotland he won the gold medal in the Men's 200 m Freestyle S14. In the heats, Fox broke the world record which he still holds.

Awarded Silver in 200m Freestyle at these Games
Daniel Fox competing in the 2012 London Paralympic Games

-At the 2015 IPC Swimming World Championships, Glasgow, Scotland, he finished fourth in the Men's 200m Freestyle S14, eighth in the Men's 100m Backstroke S14 and sixteenth in the Men's 200m Individual Medley SM14.

-At the 2016 Rio Paralympics, he won the bronze medal in the Men's 200 m Freestyle S14. The leaders in this race were only separated by 0.37 seconds at the conclusion of the race. He also competed in Men's 100m Backstroke S14 finishing sixth and Men's 200m Individual Medley SM14 but didn't qualify for the final.

-In 2016, he is a Queensland Academy of Sport scholarship holder.

Professional results

Event Year Competition Venue Time Position
100m Backstroke 2009 Global Games Czech Republic 1:07.86 Silver
50m Backstroke 2009 Global Games Czech Republic 30.87 Gold
4x50m Freestyle 2009 Global Games Czech Republic 1:46.90 Gold
4x50m Medley 2009 Global Games Czech Republic 1:59.62 Gold
50m Freestyle 2010 Australian Age Multi Class Championships Canberra 26.63 Gold
100m Freestyle 2010 Australian Age Multi Class Championships Canberra 57.62 Gold
50m Butterfly 2010 Australian Age Multi Class Championships Canberra 28.20 Gold
100m Butterfly 2010 Australian Age Multi Class Championships Canberra 1:04.25 Gold
400m Freestyle 2010 Australian Age Multi Class Championships Canberra 4:39.36 Gold
200m Freestyle 2010 IPC World Championships Eindhoven 2:03.61 Silver
200m Freestyle 2011 Pan Pacific Championships Emerton Gold
100m Backstroke 2011 Arafura Games Darwin 1:09.53 Gold
100m Butterfly 2011 Arafura Games Darwin 1:04.31 Bronze
100m Freestyle 2011 Arafura Games Darwin 57.74 Gold
400m Freestyle 2011 Arafura Games Darwin 4:31.39 Gold
50m Freestyle 2011 Arafura Games Darwin 25.87 Silver
200m Freestyle 2011 Arafura Games Darwin 2:06.45 Gold
50m Backstroke 2011 Arafura Games Darwin 31.85 Silver
200m Freestyle 2011 Can-Am Championships USA Gold
100m Freestyle 2011 Can-Am Championships USA Gold
50m Freestyle 2011 Can-Am Championships USA Gold
100m Backstroke 2011 Can-Am Championships USA Bronze
200m Freestyle 2011 Para Pan Pacific Championships Canada 2:01.54 Gold
50m Freestyle 2011 Para Pan Pacific Championships Canada 25.68 Gold
100m Freestyle 2011 Para Pan Pacific Championships Canada 55.53 Gold
100m Freestyle 2012 EnergyAustralia Swimming Championships Adelaide 54.38 Gold
200m Freestyle 2012 Paralympics London 1:59.62 Silver
200m Freestyle 2013 World Championships Montreal 2:00.57 Gold
200m Freestyle 2014 Commonwealth Games Sochi 1:57.89 Gold
200m Freestyle 2014 Para Pan Pacific Championships Sochi 1:59.09 Gold
50m Freestyle 2014 Para Pan Pacific Championships Sochi 24.77 Gold
100m Freestyle 2014 Para Pan Pacific Championships Sochi 54.69 Gold
100m Backstroke 2014 Para Pan Pacific Championships Sochi 1:07.18 Bronze
100m Freestyle 2015 Australian Swimming Championships Sydney 53.53 Gold
200m Freestyle 2015 Australian Swimming Championships Sydney 1:59.32 Gold
200m Freestyle 2016 Paralympics Rio de Janeiro 1:56.69 Bronze

In reflection on preparing for Rio, Fox states "I have done the training and I feel ready to get back into the pool and in my crown back, I am focused on doing my best at Rio and I've got an extremely solid training schedule, early nights and very little socializing."