Amanda Reid is a Paralympic swimmer and cyclist who was awarded a Scholarship within the 2017 Sport Australia Hall of Fame Scholarship and Mentoring Program and was paired with Louise Sauvage OAM as her Mentor.
Amanda was born in the Blue Mountains of NSW in 1996 with cerebral palsy. She first triumphed in short track speed skating and became the first person in this sport to hold the Australian title, New Zealand title and all Australian state titles in the one year for her age.
Amanda soon found a passion in the pool. At the 2011 Global Games, she won seven gold medals, before taking two silver and three bronze medals at the 2011 Arafura Games. She then finished fifth in the 100m Breaststroke at the London 2012 Paralympic Games and made the final of four events at the 2012 IPC Swimming World Championships.
But Amanda was just getting started and switched to cycling with immediate success. National titles and records came her way, and she won silver at the 2016 Para Track World Championships before taking another silver at the Rio 2016 Paralympic Games in the 500m Time Trial C1-C2-C3. The proud Wemba Wemba and Guring-gai woman then broke a world record at the 2019 Para Track World Championships and lowered it again in winning gold at the Tokyo 2020 Paralympic Games.
Amanda’s gold in Tokyo made her the first Indigenous woman to win a Paralympic gold in cycling, and she is determined to use this status to mentor Indigenous children and people with disabilities. She also teaches snowboarding as a Level 1 instructor, and is a popular member of the St George Cycling Club in Sydney.
“My Rio experience was so amazing. To be part of the cycling team and the whole Australian Paralympic team was incredible and to be able to get a medal in cycling after swapping from swimming it was like wow”.
“(Louise Sauvage) knows everything,” the five-time world champion and world record holder said. “I met her when I was little and was doing athletics, and with her all experience and experiences she has so much knowledge.” – Amanda on being selected as a 2017 Scholarship Holder
“I’m excited with the opportunity, it’s the first time I’ve had the chance to work as a mentor with the Sport Australia Hall of Fame scholarship program,” Sauvage said.
“I actually had the opportunity to meet Amanda in Rio, before we both knew that I’d been selected to be her mentor. She did really well there and did a great job. To change sports is not easy and she decided what she wanted and went for it.”
Awards, Honours & Achievements
- 2012: London Paralympic Games – Australian Team Member (swimming)
- 2016: Rio Paralympic Games – Sliver
- 2016: Para Track World Championships – two gold medals and broke the 500m TT world
- 2020 (2021): Tokyo Paralympic Games – Gold and broke her own World Record, C1-3 Time Trial
- 2020 (2021): Tokyo Paralympic Games – 9th, C1-5 750m Team Sprint
- 2022: Awarded the Medal of the Order of Australia (OAM)
Image: Paralympics Australia
