Valérie
Drapeau

Valérie Drapeau made her Paralympic Games debut in impressive style posting personal best times in the 100-m breaststroke and the 200-m freestyle at the London 2012 Paralympic Games. She placed 11th and 13th overall in those races.

Her hard work in training continued to pay dividends in 2015 as Drapeau qualified for the Toronto 2015 Parapan Am Games Team. At the Speedo Can Am Para-swimming Championships, she was second in the S5 100-m breaststroke plus recorded third-place finishes in the 50-m and 100-m freestyle.

At the 2013 IPC World Championships in Montreal, Drapeau broke her own national record twice in the S5 100-m breaststroke, finishing in sixth spot.

Drapeau started swimming at a very young age but only started to seriously pursue a career in the sport at age 18 when she raced at the Windsor Games. She can still recall when she struggled to swim a pool length, but she progressively learned how to compete and race.

She made her first big international impact at the 2011 Pan Pacific Para-swimming Championships in Edmonton. Drapeau won the silver medal in the 100-m breaststroke and was also fourth in the 50-m backstroke seventh in the 200-m freestyle and ninth in the 100 freestyle.

CAREER HIGHLIGHTS

Parapan Am Games team member in 2015…IPC World Championships in 2013… Paralympic Games 2012…Entered 2015 as Canadian recorld holder in all three breaststroke distance and 50-m backstroke.

PERSONAL

Her father André is a chemist, her mother Gisèle Bergeron an actuary, her sister Véronique is an occupational therapist and her younger brother Mathieu is an electrical engineering student… Her disability is ataxia, a neurological disease which affects the nervous system and causes difficulties in the coordination of voluntary movements.

NOTABLE INTERNATIONAL RESULTS

2013 IPC Worlds 6th 100-m breast
2011 Pan Pac Para 2nd 100-m breast
London 2012 Paralympic Games 11th 100-m breast
London 2012 Paralympic Games 13th 200-m free
2011 Pan Pac Para 2nd
2011 Pan Pac Para 4th 50-m back
2011 Pan Pac Para 7th 200-m free