🏊 HELP KATRINA SWIM FOR AUSTRALIA 🏊

Special Olympics National Titles · Melbourne · October 2026

Supporting Katrina Coffey to represent her State and compete with the best in Australia

Who Is Katrina?

Katrina Coffey is a 40-year-old swimmer from Brisbane — and she is, quite simply, extraordinary.

Born with Down syndrome, Katrina has spent her entire life proving what is possible when determination, love, and a set of swimming goggles come together. She has been in the water since she was five years old, and for more than three decades, the pool has been her place — the place where she finds strength, community, and the quiet satisfaction of doing something she loves deeply well.

Katrina trains four times a week with the Rackley Swimming team at Chermside Aquatics. She shows up. She works hard. She never complains. As those who know her will tell you, she has never taken a sick day in her life — not at training, not in her volunteer work, not anywhere. Reliability and cheerfulness are just part of who she is.

Beyond the pool, Katrina volunteers regularly at St Vincent de Paul, serves as an altar server at her parish church, and brings warmth and energy to everything she does. She holds a deep Catholic faith, a fierce sense of community, and a quiet kind of courage that tends to move the people around her.

A Swimming Career That Spans a Lifetime

Katrina's swimming story started in Nhulunbuy, in Arnhem Land in the Northern Territory, and it has taken her to pools across Australia and around the world. The highlights are remarkable, but the real story is the sheer persistence behind them — decade after decade of early mornings, hard yards, and quiet dedication.

Her Titles

Major Competitions — A Career Timeline

✦     Queensland State Championships, Rackley Team — December 2025

✦     INAS Global Games — Brisbane, Queensland — October 2019

✦     Down Syndrome Swimming National Titles — Brisbane, QLD — August 2019

✦     Down Syndrome Swimming National Titles — Geelong, VIC — July 2018

✦     Trisome World Down Syndrome Games — Florence, Italy — July 2016

✦     Trisome World Down Syndrome Games — Morelia, Mexico — November 2014

✦     Down Syndrome Swimming National Titles — Knox College, Sydney, NSW — September 2013

✦     National Age Championships — Hobart, Tasmania — 2002

✦     Pan Pacific School Games Swimming Championships — Sydney — June 1999

✦     Northern Territory State Age Championships — multiple years from 1998

Katrina wearing her medals with quiet pride — a moment that tells the whole story.

The Journey Hasn't Always Been Easy

Like most meaningful things, Katrina's path has had its share of setbacks — and she has navigated every one of them with grace.

In December 2019, the family relocated to the Bega Valley in New South Wales. Within weeks, the devastating bushfires swept through southern NSW, disrupting her training and volunteer life. Then came COVID-19, which shut pools, cancelled competitions, and isolated the community she had built around the sport. For more than two years, the regular rhythm of training and competition that gave Katrina so much was essentially taken from her.

The family has moved several times over the years — Nhulunbuy, Abu Dhabi, Mareeba, Albury, Balranald, Dubbo, Bega, Gladstone, and back home to Brisbane — and each move has required Katrina to start again: find a new club, establish herself in a new community, and prove herself afresh. Finding a training environment that is truly right for an elite swimmer with Down syndrome is not straightforward. Clubs aren't always set up for it, logistics don't always work, and the process of belonging somewhere takes time.

Since returning to Yeerongpilly in 2024, Katrina has settled back into serious training and has been selected for the Special Olympics Queensland State Team. She is building towards Melbourne with the focus and consistency that have always defined her approach.

Why Your Support Matters

Competing at the national level isn't free. Travel to Melbourne, accommodation, competition fees, equipment, and the costs of sustained high-level training add up quickly – and for many families supporting a person with a disability in sport, they add up to a genuine barrier.

Katrina is not a professional athlete and has no corporate sponsorship. She is simply a young woman who loves to swim, who has worked for more than 30 years to become one of the best Down syndrome swimmers in the country, and who has been allowed to compete on the national stage in October 2026.

Your support — whether it's $10 or $100 — directly helps make that possible. It pays for the plane ticket, the pool entry, the accommodation, and the costs that sit between Katrina and the starting block. Every dollar matters.

And beyond the practical, your support sends Katrina a message that her community is behind her. She is the kind of person who notices that and who carries it with her. For someone who gives so much to others – through her volunteering, her faith, and her generous spirit being lifted by others in return means a great deal.

"Swimming, exercise, and volunteer work provide me with structure and a sense of purpose.

I always give my full attention to all jobs."

— Katrina Coffey

Thank you for taking the time to read Katrina's story.

Whatever you can give, it is genuinely appreciated.

Katrina will carry your kindness with her all the way to Melbourne. 🏊