Marayke Jonkers

Marayke Caroline Jonkers (born 13 September 1981) is a retired Australian Paralympic swimmer and paratriathlete. She won two bronze medals at the 2004 Athens Paralympics and a silver medal at the 2008 Beijing Paralympics, along with a bronze medal at the 2010 Budapest ITU Triathlon World Championships.

Personal Jonkers was born on 13 September 1981 in Hobart, and moved to Queensland as a baby. She lives in the Sunshine Coast of Queensland. She became a paraplegic due to a car accident at the age of eight months. She works as a motivational speaker. She is the president of People with Disabilities Australia.

Sporting career In swimming, Jonkers competed in the S5 (classification) for freestyle, butterfly and backstroke as well as the SM4 individual medley and SB3 breaststroke events. She represents the Maroochydore Swimming Club at national competitions. Jonkers broke more than 70 Australian national swimming records in the breaststroke, individual medley, freestyle and butterfly. She also set a world record for the 100 m butterfly event. Her first Paralympics was the 2000 Sydney Games, where she placed fourth and sixth. At the 2002 IPC Swimming World Championships, she won two swimming silver medals.

Jonkers' first paratriathlon competition was as social event related to the 2009 ITU Triathlon World Championships in the Gold Coast. She became Australia's first female paratriathlete and paratriathlon medallist when she competed in the 2010 championships in Budapest, winning a bronze medal in the TRI-1 classification in a time of 2:12:40, eleven minutes better than her previous personal best. She had an Australian Institute of Sport Paralympic swimming scholarship.

On 9 December 2011, she announced her retirement from competitive swimming due to thoracic outlet syndrome. At the age of 23, she was named the 2005 Queensland Young Achiever by premier Peter Beattie. recognising Australia's most inspirational women who are encouraging others to pursue their dreams. She was featured on page 76 of Cosmopolitan the month that she was recognised. In 2010, she was named the Sporting Wheelie of the Year by the Sporting Wheelies and Disabled Association.