Tupou Neiufi was born on 15 June 2001 and is a New Zealand para-swimmer who represented her country at the 2016 Summer Paralympics and the 2018 Commonwealth Games.
13 Facts About Tupou Neiufi
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Tupou Neiufi won a silver medal at the 2019 World Para Swimming Championships and gold at the 2020 Summer Paralympics in Tokyo.
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At age two, Tupou Neiufi was run over in a hit-and-run accident and suffered damage to the right side of her head.
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Tupou Neiufi suffered bruising on the brain, hypertonia and has a left-sided hemiplegia and as a result the left side of her brain is smaller than the right, causing slower processing at times.
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Tupou Neiufi's physiotherapist suggested she try swimming, and she started swimming at about nine years of age and competing the following year.
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Tupou Neiufi was educated at Sutton Park Primary School and later Otahuhu College.
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In 2011, Paralympics New Zealand selected Tupou Neiufi for coaching and High Performance Sport New Zealand selected her for their sport services and support programme.
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Tupou Neiufi competed in the women's 100 m backstroke S9, placing seventh.
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Tupou Neiufi represented New Zealand at the 2018 Commonwealth Games on the Gold Coast, competing in the 100 m backstroke S9, and finished in sixth place in the final.
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Tupou Neiufi was a silver medallist in the 100 m backstroke S8 at the 2019 World Para Swimming Championships in London.
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Tupou Neiufi won New Zealand's first gold at the 2020 Summer Paralympics in the 100m backstroke S8 in Tokyo.
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In 2017 Tupou Neiufi won the Pacific Health and Wellbeing Award at the SunPix Pacific Peoples Awards in Auckland, New Zealand.
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Tupou Neiufi received the 2017 Tongan Youth Excellence Award in the Senior Athlete category from the To'utupu Tonga Youth Trust.