David Malone

David Malone is an Irish bi-lateral Paralympic swimmer. He participated in four consecutive Paralympic Games, starting with the 1996 Paralympic Games in Atlanta, Georgia. He won gold at the 2000 Summer Paralympics and held the world record for 100-metre backstroke for ten years. He retired from competition in 2008. He currently is the performance director for Paralympics Ireland.

Early life Malone is from Dublin, Ireland. He was born with arthrogryposis. His right leg was amputated below the knee when he was seven years old and his left leg amputated above the ankle the next year. He played football and cycled when he was young. He began swimming in the local pool and felt self-conscious about placing his artificial legs next to the pool prior to swimming. He realised the other swimmers were supportive and he began to swim competitively. He competed in a multi-sports competition when he was 15 and won five of the six events he entered. Malone won a gold medal in the 1997 and 1999 European Championships. He won a gold medal in the S8 100-metre backstroke at the 1998 IPC Swimming World Championships in Christchurch. which stood for ten years.

2000 Paralympics

In his second Paralympics in Sydney he competed in the S8 50-metre backstroke, the SM8 200-metre medley, and the S8 100-metre backstroke. They were both awarded a gold medal. He became the performance director for Paralympics Ireland in 2015. Malone later became the operational lead of their sport department.

In 2013, Malone was inducted into the Swim Ireland Hall of Fame. He was the first person to be inducted into the Irish Paralympic Sports Hall of Fame. Swim Ireland awarded him as Performance Coach of the Year in Para and Diving in 2019.