Paralympian Cameron Leslie has been selected as a finalist for the prestigious Laureus World Sports Awards. Photo / Tania Whyte
Paralympian Cameron Leslie has been selected as a finalist for the prestigious Laureus World Sports Awards. Photo / Tania Whyte
Whangārei Paralympian Cameron Leslie has scored a nomination in the prestigious Laureus World Sports Awards for his achievements in both swimming and rugby.
Leslie, 33, is well-known in New Zealand for his Paralympic gold-medal-winning performances in Beijing 2008, London 2012 and Rio de Janeiro 2016.
Leslie is also now a nominee for the World Sportsperson with a Disability award for 2023, which was news that came as a shock to him.
“I didn’t believe it was actually true until today... it seems way too big for me,” Leslie said.
A dual Paralympian, Leslie competes in both wheelchair rugby for the Wheel Blacks, the New Zealand wheelchair rugby team, and Para swimming.
“It is incredibly humbling - it’s bizarre to put me amongst a group like that.
“Hey, I do my sport and I like it and I do all right,” Leslie said.
Few Kiwis have won Laureus Awards. Among the lucky ones are Dan Carter and (separately) the All Blacks in 2016, Sir Peter Blake in 2002, and Levi Sherwood in 2011.
The winners of the Laureus awards will be revealed between March to May 2023.
Leslie has set the world record in the men’s 150-metre individual medley multiple times and continues to hold the title. After missing the 2020 Olympics, he returned to the World Para Swimming Championships, winning one gold and three silver medals in June 2022.
He also set a new world best time in the men’s 50m freestyle, becoming the first Para swimmer to go under the 37-second mark (before later being beaten by another competitor).
In wheelchair rugby, Leslie co-captained the Wheel Blacks at the 2022 Wheelchair Rugby World Championship in Denmark in October, finishing in eighth place.
New Zealand Paralympic swimmer Cameron Leslie during a training session in preparation for the Paralympic Games in Rio de Janeiro. Photo / Brett Phibbs
Outside of training and competing, Leslie is dedicated to making a difference with the next generation of athletes, whatever their level of ambition.
“Essentially, it’s around finding the next version of me or trying to help the pathway be better, more inclusive or create more opportunities for swimmers with a disability,” Leslie said.
Leslie travels nationwide to meet with children, schools and teachers, and fosters grassroots talent in Para swimming, working as disability and Para swimming participation manager for Swimming New Zealand.
“It’s about teaching someone how to swim. Like, forget about the missing leg or being in a wheelchair - get out of the wheelchair and in the water. That’s what you’re working with,” Leslie said.
A lack of progress in problem-solving and support for teaching people with disabilities to swim disappoints Leslie, especially considering it’s a life-saving skill, as well as therapeutic.
“It’s fascinating when I think back to when I was their age, 22 years ago, how the dial has not moved as it should have in that time.
“You’ve still got people with the same excuses as to why they can’t include someone with a disability,” Leslie said.
Leslie has been working on conversational ways to upskill and remove the stigma around activity and disability and the fears that sports teachers might have.
Now that he’s permanently based in Whangārei again, Leslie has been enjoying swimming in the pool he grew up in and having a new local coach.
“It’s kind of refreshing to have a new fresh take on life,” Leslie said.
