Jenna
Jones

Jenna Jones was targeting the Tokyo 2020 Paralympic Games to make her Paralympic debut, but that dream came four years early when she qualified for the Rio 2016 Paralympic Games.

Diagnosed with cone-rod dystrophy – a degenerative vision impairment – as a six-year-old, Jenna always felt safest in the pool. And as luck – or nature, perhaps – would have it, Para-swimming was also the sport in which she found her competitive edge.

In 2014, Jenna competed at her first Australian Swimming Championships, and at just 13, her expectations were low. Those expectations were misplaced, however, and with three A-finals and two B-finals appearances, and 11 Australian age records, Jenna was well on her way to an international debut.

Ordinarily, that debut would come at a Pan Pacific Para-swimming or World Championships – but Jenna is far from ordinary. Instead, her first Australian cap came at the pinnacle event for her sport, with the eyes of the world watching.

In Rio, Jenna placed seventh in the women’s 50m freestyle S13 and women’s 100m backstroke S13 finals, second in her women’s 100m freestyle S13 heat, and fifth in her women’s 100m breaststroke SB13 and women’s 200m individual medley SM13 heats.

At the 2022 Commonwealth Games in Birmingham, she finished 4th in the Women’s 50m freestyle S13.

Outside the pool, Jenna enjoys drawing and listening to audiobooks.