Judith Young

Who is Judith Young?

Judith Young is an Australian Paralympic swimmer. She was born in Melbourne. Young, who has a birth defect in her arm, was one of the first people to receive an Australian Institute of Sport Athletes with a Disability residential scholarship, from 1993 to 1996. She was coached by Peter Freney with assistance from Jim Fowlie.

At the 1988 Seoul Games, she won two gold medals in the Women’s 100 m Backstroke A8 and Women’s 400 m Freestyle A8 events and three silver medals in the Women’s 100 m Butterfly L6, Women’s 100 m Breaststroke A8 and Women’s 200 m Individual Medley L6 events. At the Games, Young faced a protest over her below the elbow amputee classification because of the degree of use she received from her birth defect arm. The appeal was successful and Young was classified as les autres. She was allowed to keep her three A8 medals but the two world records set were nullified.

Young won two gold medals, three silver medals and a bronze medal at the 1990 World Championships and Games for the Disabled in Assen, the Netherlands.