Brendan Burkett

Brendan Burkett

Australian swimmer and joint team captain Brendan Burkett on the pool deck at the 1996 Atlanta Paralympic Games
Personal information
Nationality  Australia

Brendan Burkett is a Paralympic swimming competitor from Australia who won a gold medal at the 1996 Summer Paralympics in the Men's 50 m Freestyle S9 event.

Contents

Personal

He has a Bachelor of Engineering degree from the Central Queensland University, and Master of Engineering[1] and Doctor of Philosophy degrees in Biomechanics from the Queensland University of Technology.[1][2]

In 2008, while he was camping with his family in Noosa, Queensland, someone stole his artificial waterproof leg.[3]

Paralympics

Burkett has competed and represented Australia as a national swimming competitor for 11 years.[1] He won a gold medal at the 1996 Atlanta Games in the Men's 50 m Freestyle S9 event. He also won a silver medal at the same games in the Men's 4x100 m Freestyle S7-10 event.[4] At the 1996 games, he was captain of Australia's Paralympic team.[1] In 1998, he was the Ambassador for the Sydney Paralympic Games.[2] He retired from competitive swimming following his participation at the 2000 Summer Paralympics.[3]

Burkett has been involved in the Australian Paralympic movement as a researcher. He was the Australian Paralympic swimming team's national sport science coordinator for 2002 World Championships, the 2004 Paralympic Games, and the 2006 World Championship.[1]

Academics

In 1998, he became a professor at the University of the Sunshine Coast.[1] As of 25 October 2011 (2011 -10-25), he was the acting dean of the Faculty of Science, Health and Education at the University of the Sunshine Coast, where he was also serving as the director of the Centre for Healthy Activities, Sport and Exercise.[2] His research areas include human health and performance, sports biomechanics and technology and software developments in human health and performance.[1]

Recognition

In 1988, he won the Australia Day Sporting Award.[2] In 1997, he was awarded the Order of Australia Medal (OAM).[2] In 2000, he was awarded the Professional Engineer of the Year Award by the Institution of Engineers Australia.[2] In 2000, he was Olympic torch relay member for the 2000 Summer Olympics.[2] In 2007, Burkett became a member of Swimming Queensland's Hall of Fame.[1] He was give the Outstanding Service to Swimming Australia Award in 2009.[2]

References