Leopold businessman dives into the Seine in Paralympic debut

Leopold’s Jeremy Peacock has gone from masking his disability as a teenager to proudly representing Australia at the Paralympics.

Leopold para-triathlete Jeremy Peacock is set to compete in the 2024 Paris Paralympics.

Jeremy Peacock has gone from masking his disability as a teenager to proudly representing Australia at the Paralympics.

The Leopold resident will be making his debut for Australia in the triathlon at the Paris 2024 Paralympic Games on Sunday.

It has taken him years of physical and financial pressure to make it to the starting line on the Seine.

But unlike some Paralympians, Peacock hasn’t been dreaming about this moment since childhood.

Peacock, 33, lives with his wife Emily and works full-time as an associate director at accounting firm KPMG.

Up until a few years ago, he said, he had never even considered the possibility of para-sport at the highest level.

Peacock was born in South Africa three months premature and diagnosed with hemiplegia cerebral palsy as a toddler.

The condition significantly impacts the strength and control to one side of his body, with symptoms worsening under fatigue.

“It was a mild impairment for the scale of cerebral palsy,” he said.

“I can do a lot of activities that my peers can do, and I can walk fairly normally, so growing up I never wanted ... to voice it.”

He attended Toowoomba Grammar School, where he excelled in music and sport, but downplayed his disabilities.

Once, he said, a physical education teacher had failed him for triple jump, because he couldn’t stand on one leg.

But Jeremy had not disclosed his disability.

Growing up, watching media and the sports world become more inclusive of disabilities, and watching his para-athletes heroes like Dylan Alcott and Kurt Fearnley, Peacock said he grew more confident.

It was only in 2020 that Peacock, encouraged by fellow para-athletes, approached the Australian Institute of Sport (AIS) to be categorised as a para-triathlete.

By 2022, his first international season saw him secure both a gold and silver in World Para Series races and a bronze at the World Para Triathlon Championships.

Peacock is currently ranked top four in the world in his category.

“Now I am very passionate about voicing it, after being able to finally accept it myself, I speak about it more and be more passionate about it and hoping to inspire the next generation of kids with a disability.” he said.

“I want kids who might think they’re different to embrace themselves and be happy because you never know where life will lead you.”

Especially if that is the Paralympics.

On Sunday Peacock will be completing a modified version of the same course as the Olympic Triathlon, and will include swimming in the Seine River, riding along the Champs-Élysées and running laps of the Assemblée National.

It was only at the opening ceremony, Peacock said, that the penny dropped.

“I started to get a little bit teary,” he said.

“Seeing the Australian flags in the crowd it hit me.

“I’m really here.

“I’m happy with how life has gone, but if someone tapped me on the shoulder at 14 or 15 and gave me this dream, I can’t think how different my life would have been.”

His father Stewart Peacock – who represented South Africa internationally in ultra-marathons – said since a young age Peacock had showed an unwavering passion for running.

Jeremy Peacock is set to compete in the 2024 Paris Paralympics.

“All he wanted to do was run,” he said.

“I remember, there was a fun run he was desperate to be in.

“It was around the bay in Auckland where we lived at the time.

“It was 8km and this kid did it with one leg impaired.

“He was five or six at the time.”

Jeremy’s mum, dad and wife are in Paris eagerly awaiting Sunday’s race.

“I’m walking through the middle of Paris and I don’t believe I’m here for the purpose I’m here for,” Stewart said.

“It still isn’t really real.”

Mum Ann Peacock said she felt incredibly grateful to all the doctors who worked so hard through multiple advanced cutting-edge surgeries.

“Without them we wouldn’t be here,” she said.

Peacock’s road, his parents said, has been marked by intense training, and perseverance.

But despite his physical challenges, his resilience and passion for sport had been unwavering.

And as he has grown to embrace life with cerebral palsy, his parents said he had become a passionate advocate for the representation of disabled people in not only sport, but also in business.

Peacock said he was looking forward to getting back to work, and bring with him the same inclusive attitude of the Paralympics to the workplace.

“That’s what makes me passionate – hoping to inspire the next generation of kids with a disability, in business and sport,” he said.

Left to right: Ann Peacock, Jeremy Peacock, Stewart Peacock and Emily Peacock.

Peacock paid his way to the Paralympics, through his full-time work, some funding and sponsorships, and an Australian Sports Foundation fundraising page.

For years, he has been balancing 25 to 30 hours of training each week and a full-time job to cover living expenses and competition costs.

To participate in the Paralympics, Peacock had to take months of leave without pay.

“Unfortunately, this is the reality of sport in Australia, especially para-sport,” he said.

“I still work full time and I had used up all my annual and long service leave coming to the games.

“I had to take three months of unpaid time off.”

In the countdown to Paris, he reached out to the community for financial support to help cover the costs of training, travel, and competition.

“It was definitely stressful in the lead up,” he said.

But right now, he said, he is just trying to enjoy knowing it’s all been worth it.

“When I see my wife and mum and dad for the first time in three month, that’s when all this hard work comes to an end,” he said.

“The overwhelming emotion will be pure joy and relief, because I know I’ve given it 100 per cent and all I could – I’ll be happy.”

Originally published as Leopold businessman dives into the Seine in Paralympic debut