Michelle Rzepecki
| File:150611 - Michelle Rzepecki - 3b - 2012 Team processing.jpg
2012 Australian Paralympic Team portrait of Rzepecki
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| Personal information | |
|---|---|
| Nationality | Australia |
| Born | 6 November 1986 Wollstonecraft, New South Wales |
| Height | 173 cm (68 in) (2012) |
| Sport | |
| Country | Australia |
| Sport | Goalball |
Michelle Rzepecki (born 6 November 1986) is an Australian goalball player classified as a B3 competitor. She made her debut for the Australia women's national goalball team at the 2011 African-Oceania regional Paralympic qualifying competition. She was selected to represent Australia at the 2012 Summer Paralympics in goalball.
Personal life
Rzepecki was born on 6 November 1986 in Wollstonecraft, New South Wales,[1] and is 173 centimetres (68 in) tall.[2] She has the visual disability rod monochromatism, which she acquired at birth.[1][3] She can play the saxophone and piano.[1] Rzepecki is a third-generation Australian, as her grandfather moved to Australia from Germany.[1] While attending Castle Hill High School,[4] she returned to the country of her grandfather's birth to do study abroad that was funded by a scholarship from the Society for Australian-German Student Exchange Inc.[4] She also lived in Bolivia for a while, working at a school for children with visual impairments. While there, she introduced the children to goalball.[1] Part of her work in the country was funded by a mini-grant.[5] As of 2012[update], she works as a Sydney Tower Skywalk guide.[1]
Goalball
Rzepecki is a goalball player, and for visual disability sports, is classified as a B3 competitor.[1] She is a centre and winger.[2][6] She has a goalball scholarship with the New South Wales Institute of Sport.[7] Rzepecki started playing the sport in 2002.[1] She competed at the 2004 Australian National Goalball Championships, playing for the New South Wales goalball team which beat the Queensland goalball team in the finals.[1] In 2011, Rzepecki made her national team debut during the African-Oceania regional Paralympic qualifying competition.[1][2][8][9][10] She played in the game against the New Zealand women's national goalball team that Australia won.[9][10][11] As a member of the 2011 team, she finished sixth at the IBSA Goalball World Cup.[8][11][12][13]
The Australian Paralympic Committee had chosen to work on her development as a goalball player with the idea that she might be able to qualify for, and win a medal at, the 2016 Summer Paralympics.[13] She was a named a member of the Aussie Belles that was going to the 2012 Summer Paralympics,[1][3][7][12][14] in what would be her debut Games.[7] That the team qualifyied for the Games came as a surprise, as the Australian Paralympic Committee had been working on player development with an idea of the team qualifying for the 2016 Summer Paralympics.[12] An Australian team had not participated since the 2000 Summer Paralympics, when they earned an automatic selection as hosts, and the team finished last in the competition.[12][15] Going into the Paralympics, her team was ranked eighth in the world.[7] In the 2012 Summer Paralympics tournament, the Belles played games against Japan, Canada, the United States and Sweden. They lost every game, and did not advance to the finals.[16]
References
- ↑ 1.00 1.01 1.02 1.03 1.04 1.05 1.06 1.07 1.08 1.09 1.10 Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
- ↑ 2.0 2.1 2.2 Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
- ↑ 3.0 3.1 Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
- ↑ 4.0 4.1 Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
- ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
- ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
- ↑ 7.0 7.1 7.2 7.3 Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
- ↑ 8.0 8.1 Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
- ↑ 9.0 9.1 Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
- ↑ 10.0 10.1 Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
- ↑ 11.0 11.1 Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
- ↑ 12.0 12.1 12.2 12.3 Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
- ↑ 13.0 13.1 Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
- ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
- ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
- ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
External links
- Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
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