Sam Bramham

Sam Bramham O.A.M

Personal information
Full name	Sam Julian Bramham
Nationality	Australian
Born	(1988-05-23)23 May 1988 Melbourne
Education	La Trobe University
Height	1.79 m (5 ft 10 in)
Weight	92 kg (203 lb)
Sport
Club	Carey Tritons
Medal record Swimming Paralympic Games 2004 Athens No Medley 34 pts 2008 Beijing Men's 4×100 m Medley 34 pts 2004 Athens Men's 4×100 m Freestyle 34 pts 2008 Beijing Men's 4×100 m Freestyle 34 pts 2004 Athens Men's 100 m Butterfly S9

Sam Julian Bramham,OAM(born 23 May 1988) is an Australian Paralympic swimmer. He competed at the2004and2008 Summer Paralympics.Between those two Games, he won two gold medals, two silver medals and a bronze medal. In 2014 Bramham entered theeleventh seasonofBig Brother Australiaand was a contestant in the first season ofAustralian Ninja Warriorin 2017.

Personal life

Bramham tells several stories about how he lost his leg; one story involves his leg being bitten off by a crocodile.Another story is that a shark attacked him.A third story, one he often tells international journalists, involves his leg being "chomped off by a kangaroo".The reality is that he was born missing part of his limb:he has nofemur.What remained of his leg was amputated when he was five years old.

Bramham was born on 23 May 1988 and is fromIvanhoe, Victoria,where he attendedIvanhoe Grammar School.One of his heroes isGeoff Huegill.Outside of swimming, he competes atwater polo,Australian rules footballandrugby union.Amongst these sports, rugby union was his preferred sport, and he played it at school until the school removed him from the team, citing concerns that his prosthetic leg may potentially injure his teammates and opposing players.Not being able to play his first choice sport was one of the reasons he got involved with swimming.

He has one daughter, born in 2022.

Swimming

Bramham first represented Australia internationally in 2004.His highest international ranking was number one.He was coached by Matt Byrne of the Tritons Swimming Club.In 2000, he competed at thePacific School Games.In 2006, he competed in the World Championships inBerlin, Germanywhere he set a world record and won a gold medal.To Bramah's disappointment, four months before the start of the 2006 Commonwealth Games held inMelbourne, Victoria,the games announced they would not include Elite Athletes with Disability butterfly swimming on the event schedule.To qualify for the Commonwealth Games, he switched to and qualified to compete in the 100 m freestyle.In 2011, he competed in the Can-Am Swimming Open, where he earned gold medals in two events:S9100 m freestyle and 50 m and 100 m butterfly.He has been anAustralian Institute of Sportparalympic swimming andVictorian Institute of Sportscholarship holder.

Paralympics

Bramham was one of the youngest Australian competitors at the 2004 Paralympics.He earned a bronze medal in the first Games he competed at in the Men's 4×100 m medley 34 event.He broke a world record in Athens during one of the heats for the 100 m butterfly event.He won a gold medal at the2004 Athens Gamesin the men's 100 m butterflyS9event, a gold medal in the men's 4×100 m medley 34 pts event and a silver medal in the men's 4×100 m freestyle 34 pts event.He won a gold medal at the2008 Beijing Gamesin the men's 100 m butterflyS9event, a gold medal in the men's 4×100 m medley 34 pts event and a silver medal in the men's 4×100 m freestyle 34 pts event.

Professional career

Sam is a professionally trained public/motivational speaker and has spoken to schools, councils, businesses, sports groups and charities – collecting years of speaking experience. Sam started on the public speaking circuit in 2004 after media attention he received for success at the Athens Paralympics and for telling American media that his leg was mauled off by a kangaroo. From what began as informative sessions offering a few laughs, Sam's presentations have grown into a series of diverse presentations. Sam is also radio trained and media friendly, with regular appearances on stations such as SEN, Joy, SYN FM and ABC Digital.

Sam is co owner of Chei Wen Wine Bar in Ivanhoe and Fly Lie Bar in Kew.

Charitable work and philanthropy

Sam commits a lot of his time to charity, working with young kids with disability, disadvantaged and underprivileged youth, victims of bullying and upskilling troubled teens. He is an ambassador for Disability Sport and Recreation, Bully Zero Australia, OzChild and Group Training Association of Victoria.

Recognition

In 2009, Bramham received the Medal of theOrder of Australia"For service to sport as a gold medallist at the Beijing 2008 Paralympic Games".

Big Brother

From 9 September 2014, Bramham appeared as a housemate on the 11th season ofBig Brother Australiaon theNine Network.He entered the house on Day 2 where he was partnered with Cat Law, a midwife, whom he played the game with until Day 8 when as part of a pair swap was made by then-heads of house pair Dion Kallis and Jason Roses he was paired with Ryan Ginns (who was announced winner during the finale on 26 November 2014). He was evicted on Day 37.