Siobhan Paton

Siobhan Bethany Paton, OAM (born 28 August 1983) is an Australian Paralympic swimmer who was born in Sydney. Paton has had an intellectual disability from birth which was a consequence a lack of oxygen. Paton decided to become a swimmer after finding out she has a connective tissue disorder and that swimming would assist in the strengthening of her joints.

Paton won six Paralympic medals during the 2000 Sydney Paralympic Games. She won gold in the 50m freestyle, 200m freestyle, 50m backstroke, 50m butterfly, 100m freestyle and 200m individual medley. Paton was identified as one of the highest individual gold medalist at a single Games.

Paton could not compete in the 2004 or 2008 Paralympics due to the International Paralympic Committee's decision to suspend the participation of all athletes with intellectual disabilities. The decision by the IPC caused Paton to sink into depression from 2004 on since she felt as though she "wasn't disabled enough" even though it was accelerated by a cover all banning of all athletes with intellectual disability after the 2000 gold medal-winning Spanish basketball team had only two players with an intellectual disability. Her sister Sarah Paton competed in the Women's 800m Freestyle at the 2004 Summer Olympics. Siobhan had hoped that she would be competing at the Athens Games alongside her sister after the testing by the IPC. However, this was not the case and as a result escalated her all-ready depressed state. In October 2014, she was inducted into the Path of Champions at the Sydney Olympic Park Aquatic Centre.