Teresa Perales, 1st Marchioness of Perales

Teresa Perales Fernández, 1st Marchioness of Perales (born 29 December 1975), is an S2 classified Spanish swimmer, politician and motivational speaker who has won a total of 28 Paralympic medals at the 2000, 2004, 2008, 2012, 2016, 2020 and 2024 Summer Paralympics. She is the most decorated Spanish Paralympian in history, and holds the current Paralympic record in women's 100m freestyle (S2) following the 2024 Summer Paralympics.

In 1995, at the age of nineteen, Perales was diagnosed with neuropathy and lost the use of her legs within three months. Following the 2000 Games, she earned a Diploma in Physiotherapy and married Mariano Menor. She later had a child with him following the 2008 Games. In addition to swimming, Perales has been a politician, teacher, entrepreneur and motivational speaker. As an Aragonese Party (PAR) politician, she was in office from 2003 to 2007. Following her departure, she co-wrote an autobiography with her husband. Despite having no plans to return to politics, she was symbolically on the 2011 ballot for PAR as a member of the Congreso de los Diputados. Perales has supported a number of causes including Doctors Without Borders, Fundación Carlos Sanz and Fundación Vicente Ferrer.

Taking up swimming at the age of 19, she joined the Aragon-based disability sport club CAI CDM a year later. A year after that, in 1997, she competed in her first Spanish championships, in which she earned several medals. The following year, she made her national team debut at the IPC (International Paralympic Committee) Swimming World Championships in Christchurch, New Zealand, where she earned a bronze medal. She then went on to compete in the 1999 European Championship, 2000 Summer Paralympics, 2001 European Championships, 2002 IPC World Championship, 2004 Summer Paralympics, 2006 IPC World Swimming Championship, and 2008 Summer Paralympics. She took a break from swimming following the 2008 Games to give birth to her son. She returned to the pool in 2011 for the European Championship and then competed at the 2012 Summer Paralympics. She earned at least one medal in every Paralympics, European Championship, and World Championship in which she competed.

Because of her sporting achievements, Perales was awarded the Gran Cruz del Mérito Deportivo and the Medalla de Oro de la Real Orden del Mérito Deportivo. She has earned several other honors including being named the Woman of the Year by the Spanish women's magazine Mujer hoy.

Personal Perales was born in Zaragoza on 29 December 1975. She has very little leg strength and no sensation in her legs, and if she cuts herself while shaving her legs, she cannot feel the cut. The last time she was able to walk without assistance was on 10 May 1995 during the celebration of Zaragoza's la Recopa victory.

Perales is married to Mariano Menor and has one child, a son. She had her son after the 2008 Beijing Paralympics. She served as the directora general for Ayuda a la Dependencia She served as the Deputy of Cortes de Aragón from June 2003 to February 2006. In this role, she served as the president of the ninth Rolde Choben Congress. She has also served as the CEO of Care Dependence on the Government of Aragon. In 2012 in Madrid, she participated in a demonstration against the government to oppose cuts to the disability sector as they were cutting benefits to people with disabilities, a category of people who were facing high unemployment. She was the president of Fundación Pilotos 4x4 sin Fronteras from 2004 to 2006.

Perales was a major sponsor for December 2012 Gala Solidaria Deportivo-Benéfica, which benefitted Fundación Carlos Sanz, an organisation that helps feed the hungry in Aragon. In 2012, while serving as an ambassador for the Fundación Vicente Ferrer, she traveled to India where she spoke with low-caste Indian women with disabilities. In December 2012, she attended an event in support of Intermón Oxfam.

, she lives in Zaragoza. She is the most decorated Spanish Paralympian in history. , her swimming coach is Angelo Santamaria, who has been with her since 2000 and during her time serving in political office.

Perales took up swimming at the age of 19 at a pool in Salou by accident and stuck with the sport because she liked the feeling of being weightless in the water. Within a year of that first swim, she joined CAI CDM, a sports club in Zaragoza for people with disabilities. That year, she also participated in the United States National Short Course Swimming Championship, where she earned five gold medals in the 50 m backstroke, freestyle and butterfly events, 100 m freestyle and 200 m freestyle event.

A year after the 2008 Summer Paralympics,

World Championships Perales made her international debut for Spain at the IPC World Championships in Christchurch, New Zealand, in 1998, earning a bronze in the 100 and 200 m. freestyle, bronze in the 50 m. backstroke and 50 m. freestyle, and a silver in the 50 m. butterfly. The only events for which she failed to make the podium were the 20 point relays in the Medley Relay 4 x 50 and 4 x 50 Freestyle Relay events, in which her teams finished seventh and fifth respectively. and finished the Games as Spain's most decorated athlete. While in Athens, the vice president primera of Parlamento autónomo, Ana Fernández, and Argonese party leader Javier Allué visited Perales to congratulate her on her success. Her second gold was set in a world record time of 35.88 seconds in the 50 m freestyle, a little over half a second faster than the existing world record of 36.42 seconds set in 2003. She was also the first Spanish athlete to earn two medals at the Games. By the time she earned her third medal, her personal total accounted for a third of Spain's total medals. At the conclusion of the Games, she had sixteen total medals, tied with Purificación Santamarta, a blind sprinter, for the most medals earned at the Paralympics by a Spanish athlete.

During the closing ceremonies of the 2008 Games, she was voted by her Paralympic peers to serve on the Council of the International Paralympic Committee as the athlete representative for the four years preceding the London Games. In this role, she spoke before the International Olympic Committee in 2009. She was re-elected following the 2012 Games. One of the reasons she wanted to hold the position again was to support Madrid's bid for the 2020 Summer Olympics and Paralympics.

Going into the 2012 London Games, Perales was one of three Aragon based Spanish Paralympians and was selected to serve as her country's flag-bearer during the opening ceremonies. Her roommate at the 2012 Paralympics was Esther Morales Fernández. She medaled in each of the 6 individual events in which she competed. Following her gold medal win in the 100 m Freestyle S5, she gave her medal to her two-year-old son. Before her gold medal race, she got ready by listening to music. By the conclusion of the London Paralympics, she had amassed 22 Paralympic medals during the course of her Paralympic career. As a result of her performance and the resulting media coverage during the London Paralympics, she became a trending topic on Twitter in Spain.

Her six medals in a single Games tied Michael Phelps' record for the most ever won by an Olympian or Paralympian at a single Games. The total made swimming helped the largest medal sport for Spaniards at the 2012 Games, Spanish swimmers picking up eleven total medals in the pool compared to seven earned by Spanish cyclists.

While in London in advance of the London Paralympics, Perales had the opportunity to see Michael Phelps swim. During and after the Games, the Spanish media drew numerous comparisons between her London performance and Phelp's performance.

Following the 2012 Games, Perales indicated she planned to keep competing and to try to qualify for the 2016 Summer Paralympics in Rio. She went on to take part in the 2016, 2020 and 2024 Summer Paralympics, earning at least one medal in each. In the 2024 Summer Paralympics she broke the previous record and became the new holder of the Paralympic record in women's 100m freestyle (S2).

Results

Awards and recognition Perales was awarded the Gran Cruz del Mérito Deportivo. She has also been awarded the Medalla de Oro de la Real Orden del Mérito Deportivo and the Medalla al Mérito Deportivo del Gobierno de Aragón. In September 2008, Perales was named the IPC Athlete of the Month. That year, she was also honoured with the Homenaje a las Heroínas medal at a ceremony that took place during the Fiestas del Pilar. In earning this recognition, the organization presenting it said that she was an "example of perseverance, hard work and tenacity. Her figure exceeds the limits sports to become a social relation that makes you feel proud to belong to that community." #tag:ref |"ejemplo de superación, esfuerzo y tenacidad. Su figura sobrepasa los límites deportivos para convertirse en un referente social que hace sentir orgullo a la comunidad a la que pertenece"

In 2012, La Asociación de la Prensa Deportiva de Zaragoza named her the best female Best Athlete Aragoneses of the year. That year, she was also voted by readers of Marca as the second best Spanish athlete for the year. She was presented with a special award as part of the 2012 AS Award ceremony in Madrid hosted by the Spanish newspaper Diario AS. In September 2012, she was featured in Unidad móvil, a television special that had two reporters who followed her around for her 48 hours in Madrid following her return from the London Paralympics.

Perales was honored at the 2012 Fiestas del Pilar and gave the festival's opening speech. Princess Letizia of Spain was the award ceremony's presenter. She was also recognised as an exemplary citizen of her hometown in 2012.

Cadena SER said that she changed the future of Paralympic sport in Spain. #tag:ref |"La hazaña de Teresa Perales. La silla le cambió la vida y ella ha cambiado la historia del deporte paraolímpico español."

In 2013, she was awarded the Grand Cross in the Royal Order of Sporting Merit, Spain's highest recognition to a sportsperson.

In 2021, she was awarded the Princess of Asturias Award for sports.

Since 2022, Teresa Perales has been a Global Advisor for the ACE Global Leaders of Excellence Network, a diverse platform of ACE Health Foundation. ACE Health Foundation is a non-profit organization in United States that connects leaders who are globally committed to international leadership development; grounded in the premise that focused sharing of knowledge, expertise, and resources increases the probability of productive and powerful outcomes.

Notable published works