Shireen Sapiro is a South Africa

South Africa

The Republic of South Africa is a country in southern Africa. Located at the southern tip of Africa, it is divided into nine provinces, with of coastline on the Atlantic and Indian oceans...

n paralympics swimmer

Swimming (sport)

Swimming is a sport governed by the Fédération Internationale de Natation .-History: Competitive swimming in Europe began around 1800 BCE, mostly in the form of the freestyle. In 1873 Steve Bowyer introduced the trudgen to Western swimming competitions, after copying the front crawl used by Native...

, most notable for her performance at the 2008 Summer Paralympics

2008 Summer Paralympics

The 2008 Summer Paralympic Games, the thirteenth Paralympics, took place in Beijing, China from September 6 to September 17, 2008. As with the 2008 Summer Olympics, equestrian events were held in Hong Kong and sailing events in Qingdao....

, winning a gold medal for the 100 m backstroke.

Biography

On 9 April 2004, Sapiro fell off of her jet skies and her body was cut open by a passing speed boat. She received her high school education at Krugersdorp high School but later moved to bishop baven where she was also Deputy Headgirl of Sport. Described as a brave girl by many she overcame her weakness in strength.

At the 2009 Maccabiah Games

2009 Maccabiah Games

The 2009 Maccabiah Games were the 18th incarnation of the Maccabiah Games, being held in July 2009. According to the organizing committee these were the largest games held yet. On the 13th of July, more than 6,000 Jewish athletes from all over the world joined Team Israel's 3,000 participants at...

, Sapiro was appointed flag bearer for the South African delegation at the opening ceremony. While Sapiro generally competes in paralympic events, she competed in the open competition of the swimming

Swimming at the 2009 Maccabiah Games

Swimming at the 2009 Maccabiah Games was held over a four day period from July 19 to July 23. All swimming events took place at the Wingate Institute in Netanya.-Medal table:Retrieved from Maccabiah Games 2009 Official Website.-Men's events:...

 events against able-bodied swimmers.

Footnotes