40 Facts About Priya Cooper

Priya Cooper competed in the Australian swimming team at the 1992,1996 and 2000 Summer Paralympics with an S8 classification.

Priya Cooper was twice the co-captain of the Australian Paralympic team, including at the 2000 Paralympic Games in Sydney, and carried the Australian flag at the closing ceremonies for the 1992 and 1996 Summer Paralympics.

Priya Cooper attended university, working on a course in health management.

Priya Naree Cooper was born on 2 October 1974 in Perth, Western Australia.

Priya Cooper's father taught her to swim while making her wear big yellow floaties.

Priya Cooper was informed about disabled athletes by a teacher at school.

Priya Cooper made her first national team appearance when she was in year 12 in school, after winning twelve gold medals in national swimming meets.

Priya Cooper is a world champion disabled swimmer, winning nine Paralympic gold medals as well as world records and world championships.

Priya Cooper represented Wheelchair Sports Western Australia at the 1991 National Wheelchair Games, winning nine gold medals.

Priya Cooper had a number of coaches over the course of her competitive career, including Matthew Brown and Frank Ponta.

At the age of 17, Priya Cooper made her Paralympic debut at the 1992 Summer Paralympics in Barcelona.

Priya Cooper was in danger of not going to the 1992 Paralympics because of funding issues for the Australian Paralympic Federation.

Priya Cooper won three gold and two silver medals, and broke two world records and three Paralympic records.

Priya Cooper was offered a non-residential Australian Institute of Sport Athletes with a Disability swimming scholarship in 1993 and was supported until 2000.

Priya Cooper was a co-captain of the Australian team at the 1996 Summer Paralympics, where she competed in six individual events and two relay events in the S8 class, winning five gold medals, four individual and one team, one silver medal and one bronze medal.

In 1998, Priya Cooper competed at the Paralympic Swimming World Championships in Christchurch, New Zealand.

Priya Cooper set a world record in the 400m freestyle at the event.

Priya Cooper set another world record in the S8 classification, with an 800m freestyle time of 10:40.03, three seconds faster than the previous record.

Priya Cooper won a gold medal in the 200m individual medley, with a finish that was half a second away from beating her own previous world record.

Priya Cooper competed at the Sporting Wheelies and Disabled Association-sponsored 1998 Queensland Championships in five swimming events.

In 1999, Priya Cooper moved to Sydney, the location of the 2000 Summer Paralympics, to prepare for the Games.

Priya Cooper had been living there for eighteen months at the beginning of the Games.

Priya Cooper's family continued to live in Perth and the move was an adjustment period for her.

Priya Cooper participated in this by choosing the song "Ashes" by The Superjesus and singing it onstage during the CD's launch.

Priya Cooper was worried about how receptive Australians and the world would be in terms of disabled sport prior to the Paralympics being hosted in Australia.

Priya Cooper was surprised when the Paralympic Games started at how supportive Australians and international visitors were of athletes at the 2000 Paralympic Games.

Priya Cooper believed that the Games would help increase spectatorship for Paralympic sports around the country.

Priya Cooper was selected to carry the Australian flag at the closing ceremonies for the 1992 and 1996 Summer Paralympics.

Priya Cooper was awarded a Medal of the Order of Australia in 1993, was named the 1995 Paralympian of the Year, was the Young Australian of the Year for Sport in 1999, received an Australian Sports Medal in 2000, and was inducted into the Western Australian Hall of Champions in 2006 and the Swimming Western Australia Hall of Fame in 2008.

In 1998, Priya Cooper won a Dairy Farmers Sporting Chance award in swimming.

Priya Cooper was chosen to officially open the Stadium at Curtin University in 2009.

Priya Cooper attended the tenth anniversary celebrations for the Sydney Olympic and Paralympic Games held at Sydney Olympic Park in 2010.

Priya Cooper studied at Curtin University, where she graduated with a degree in health promotion and media.

Priya Cooper was a public speaker, attending events to talk about disabilities.

Priya Cooper had a volunteer position, where she worked as a scriptwriter for a radio station in Perth.

Priya Cooper was a commentator for the 2002 Commonwealth Games, covering the swimming events.

Priya Cooper is a Therapy Focus Ambassador, and a member of the Disabilities and Carer Council.

Priya Cooper is actively involved in raising funds for several charities, and was part of the Great Pram Push event held in East Fremantle, Western Australia, a charity event that raised funds for the Starlight Children's Foundation and the Children's Leukaemia and Cancer Research Foundation.

Priya Cooper is married to Paralympic swimmer Rodney Bonsack and has two children.

Priya Cooper and her husband run a motivational business, Success is a Choice Global, which is designed to help people maximise their lives.