Alex embraces stroke of fate

Mr Alex Kirchner, a role model for the deaf community, has a goal of competing at the 2024 Olympics.

“Accepting my disability was a big deal and it only happened in recent years.”

DEAF SWIMMER CLAIMS WORLD RECORDS AND MANTLE AS ROLE MODEL

Alex Kirchner used to cover up his deafness at school, desperately wanting to fit in with his classmates. Four world deaf swimming records changed that. Today he is loud and proud about being a role model for the hearing-impaired community. Mr Kirchner, 18, is studying a Bachelor of Business and Bachelor of Laws on an Excellence Scholarship while he pursues a dream of competing at the 2024 Olympics. Attending Bond University was a long-held ambition, but the swimmer had a difficult time in primary school. “There are a lot of social challenges growing up deaf and not everyone accepts it,” Mr Kirchner says. “Primary school was very secluded for me in some parts. Accepting my disability was a big deal and it only happened in recent years.” The turning point was international success in the pool. Mr Kirchner holds four deaf world records across freestyle (50m and 100m) and backstroke (50m and 100m). “When I started competing and representing Australia I began to really understand the weight that carries and how much it means,” he says. “I came to realise that my hearing disability was a part of me and that living in defiance was not the way to live. I embraced my disability, let it become a true part of me and stopped letting it prevent me from being who I wanted to be.” Mr Kirchner is now an ambassador for the deaf community.

He gives speeches, participates in awareness advertisements and helps raise funds to ensure deaf children “can live a normal life and not let their disability hinder them from achieving their dreams.”

Mr Kirchner was born with the connexin 26 gene, the most common cause of inherited deafness. His parents Libby and Brett got him into swimming at just six months old, believing sport would help him assimilate and give him confidence.

During competitions his mother would hold his ankle on the blocks before releasing it to let him know the race had started.

“Mum and dad didn’t miss a session when I was growing up, driving me to the pool every morning at 4:30am,” he says.

“There is a lot of emotional support from my parents. They experience my problems if I’m suffering or feeling left out, that hurts them a lot.”

International success has freed Mr Kirchner from his self-consciousness but it has also brought new pressures. “I put a lot of pressure on myself because the whole idea of representing your country is a big deal,” he says.

“The amount of fundraising that goes on by family and friends and the people that are supporting you to get you over to international events carries pressure. It’s good pressure, but it is a lot. It’s friends and family’s money that gets you over there. You are representing them when you are on the blocks.”

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The Melbourne-born athlete is currently focused on performing well at national titles after fulfilling an ambition to swim for Bond. “I’ve wanted to come to Bond for a very long time,” Mr Kirchner says.

“At my first age nationals many years ago I saw the Bond team in their swimmers and thought their uniform looked pretty cool. I always had the idea I’d move up to Queensland when I was old enough and Bond seemed the perfect fit: swimming and university.

“My goals are swimming in Brazil at the Deaflympics next year. I hold the world record currently, so it’s a good chance to medal. Long term goal is the Paris 2024 Olympics. That’s the ultimate.”

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