Alexandra Viney

Started: She began Para rowing at age 26 on the Barwon River in Geelong, VIC, Australia. (Athlete, 29 Aug 2024) Reason: She was involved in non-Para rowing in high school prior to her accident. "I've learnt to really stand up for myself and to show that you really are capable of anything and you don't have to let things limit you." (vis.org.au, 10 Nov 2019; rowingaustralia.com.au, Feb 2019) Ambition: To continue competing through to the 2028 Paralympic Games in Los Angeles. (Athlete, 29 Aug 2024) Awards: She won the Young Alumni Award at the 2024 Deakin University Alumni Awards of Excellence in Australia. (Instagram profile, 10 Apr 2024; Deakin University YouTube channel, 06 Mar 2024) In October 2019 she received the Full Blue award from Deakin University for her contribution to Para rowing. She was also named the 2019 Impaired Sportsperson of the Year by the university. (deakin.edu.au, 31 Oct 2019) Additional Info: MENTAL HEALTH JOURNEY She struggled with her mental health and experienced post-traumatic stress disorder [PTSD] as a result of the car accident she was involved in at age 18 that resulted in her impairment. She says returning to sports helped her to deal with her impairment and mental health struggles. "What the surgeons couldn't save was my mental health from the trauma. I was 18. The next six years of my life were consumed by PTSD, anxiety and depression and on two separate occasions I attempted to take my own life. I was desperately struggling at a time when talking about your mental health was considered a weakness and even labelled attention-seeking. I had lost my identity. I was self-destructive, I lost friendships and withdrew from social situations. By 2018 I had learnt to manage my PTSD and anxiety and I was enjoying life but something was missing. I fell in love with AFLW [women's Australian rules football league] and immersed myself as a coach, manager, strength and conditioning coach and trainer. I wanted these girls to have every opportunity to succeed in their sport that I had always wanted. Then, one cold game day in May [2018], there was a passing comment that changed everything, 'Surely you could be a Para athlete'. In November 2018 I sat in a rowing boat for the first time in eight years." (Deakin University YouTube channel, 06 Mar 2024; sirensport.com.au, 12 Oct 2021; ais.gov.au, 01 Jan 2020) OTHER ACTIVITIES In 2022 she was named as an ambassador for the inaugural Australian Institute of Sport [AIS] Thrive with Pride programme, which helps to celebrate and empower LGBTIQA+ people in sport. "If you're not actively engaging having conversations and learning how to be inclusive and welcoming to people in the community, then we have a stalled feeling where we have to be aware of what part of us we are putting forward, instead of just feeling completely comfortable and accepted in the environment." (vis.org.au, 26 Jun 2023) FURTHER EDUCATION She has studied for a master's degree in sport management, business, sport science and nutrition at Deakin University in Geelong, VIC, Australia. (Athlete, 29 Aug 2024; Deakin University YouTube channel, 06 Mar 2024; LinkedIn profile, 01 Apr 2023)