Melissa Carlton

Melissa Paula Carlton, OAM (born 8 May 1978) is a South African-born Australian swimmer. Born with no right leg and short fingers on her left hand, she won gold, silver and bronze medals for Australia at both the 1996 Atlanta and 2000 Sydney Paralympics.

Personal Carlton was born in the South African city of Pietermaritzburg on 8 May 1978. She moved with her family to Australia in 1986; they first settled in the Victorian town of Beechworth, where Carlton competed in local school swimming competitions. In 1990 they moved to the Hobart suburb of Glenorchy.

Competitive swimming

In 1991, Carlton won a gold medal in the 8 km event at the Tasmanian outdoor championships for able-bodied swimmers. She won a gold medal at the 1994 Victoria Commonwealth Games in Canada in the 100 m freestyle S9. In 1994, she had an Australian Institute of Sport scholarship in swimming.

At the 1996 Atlanta Games, she won two gold medals in the Women's 400 m Freestyle S9 and Women's 4x100 m Freestyle S7–10 events, for which she received a Medal of the Order of Australia, At the 2000 Sydney Games, she won two silver medals in the Women's 400 m Freestyle S9 and Women's 100 m Freestyle S9 events and two bronze medals in the Women's 4x100 m Freestyle 34 pts and Women's 4x100 m Medley 34 pts events. She has been the Manager of Launceston Aquatic since 2008. In 2001, she received the Tasmanian Athlete with a Disability of the Year award.