Kingsley Haldane Bugarin, OAM is an Australian Paralympic and vision impaired swimmer. He competed in five consecutive Summer Paralympics from 1984 to 2000, winning a total of five gold, eight silver, and six bronze medals. He held the Australian record for the highest Paralympic medal count until it was surpassed in 2012 by Matthew Cowdrey.
Before his swimming career, Bugarin competed in track and field. At the age of 14, he took up competitive swimming training at Swan Hills Swimming Club in Midvale, Western Australia. As a 16 year old at the 1984 New York Paralympics, he won two silver medals and a bronze medal. He followed this up with three bronze medals at 1988 Seoul Paralympics. At the 1990 IPC Swimming Championships in Assen, he won one gold, two silver and won bronze medal. This was followed up with three silver medals and one bronze medal at 1992 Barcelona. At the 1994 IPC Swimming Championships in Valenta,he won one gold, two silver and one bronze medals. At the 1996 Atlanta Paralympics, he had his most successful Paralympics winning three gold, two silver and one bronze medals. He won four gold medals at 1999 IPC Swimming World Championships in Madrid. During the late 1990s in the lead up to the Sydney Paralympics Bugarin moved to Claremont Uni Swimming Club to train with Matt Brown at the UWA Aquatic Centre and then called, Challenge Stadium. At his final Paralympics, he won two gold and one silver medal at the 2000 Sydney Paralympics. At the end of his career, Bugarin's overall international medal tally shows a total of 32 gold medals, 19 silver medals and 13 bronze medals. Over the duration of his career, Bugarin has won a total of 155 medals in competitions ranging from National Championships to Paralympic Games. As of May 2019, Bugarin holds the world record for the 200 m breaststroke in class S12 with a time of 2:34.08 which he set on 19 October 1999 in Perth. Bugarin is officially retired from high level competition but still trains and competes in open water swimming and triathlon events. He was an Australian Institute of Sport scholarship holder from 1997 to 1999 in swimming.
Achievements
In 1997, he received the Order of Australia in recognition of service to sport as a gold medallist at the Atlanta Paralympic Games 1996. In 2000, he received an Australian Sports Medal. In 2008 he was inducted into the Western Australian Swimming Association Hall of Fame. In 2019, he was made a Legend of the Western Australian Swimming Association Hall of Fame. He was the third swimmer to be made a Legend.
