Kingsley Bugarin

Kingsley Haldane Bugarin, OAM (born 3 August 1968) is an Australian Paralympic and vision impaired swimmer. He competed in five consecutive Summer Paralympics from 1984 to 2000, winning a total of five gold, eight silver, and six bronze medals. He held the Australian record for the highest Paralympic medal count until it was surpassed in 2012 by Matthew Cowdrey.

Personal He was born 3 August 1968 in Mount Lawley, Western Australia. He attended La Salle College, Perth. Bugarin married Indonesian triathlete Yanti Ardie during the SunSmart IRONMAN at Busselton, Western Australia in December 2014. Bugarin works as an information technology consultant.

Swimming Before his swimming career, Bugarin competed in track and field. At the age of 14, he took up competitive swimming training at Swan Hills Swimming Club in Midvale, Western Australia.

As a 16-year-old at the 1984 New York Paralympics, he won two silver medals and a bronze medal. He followed this up with three bronze medals at 1988 Seoul Paralympics. Over the duration of his career, Bugarin has won a total of 155 medals in competitions ranging from National Championships to Paralympic Games.

As of May 2019, Bugarin holds the world record for the 200 m breaststroke in class S12 with a time of 2:34.08 which he set on 19 October 1999 in Perth.

Bugarin is officially retired from high level competition but still trains and competes in open water swimming and triathlon events.

He was an Australian Institute of Sport scholarship holder from 1997 to 1999 in swimming.

Achievements

In 1997, he received the Order of Australia (OAM) in recognition of service to sport as a gold medallist at the Atlanta Paralympic Games 1996.

In 2000, he received an Australian Sports Medal.

In 2008 he was inducted into the Western Australian Swimming Association Hall of Fame.

In 2019, he was made a Legend of the Western Australian Swimming Association Hall of Fame. He was the third swimmer to be made a Legend.