Gabriella Smith, known as Gaby, has had a lifelong involvement with the water. She started learn-to-swim lessons at a few months old in Melville, Perth, and has loved the water ever since.

After moving to New Zealand in 2014, Smith started her competitive swimming journey through Parafed Canterbury and Wharenui Swim Club. As a youngster, Smith recalls watching the older swimmers and thinking that racing looked like a lot of fun, so she gave it a go and really enjoyed the competitive aspect of the sport.

Since her first taste of racing as an 11-year-old in Canterbury, Smith has risen through the ranks, emerging as one of New Zealand's exciting young talents in the pool.

Under the tutelage of coach Matt Houston, Smith was first selected to represent New Zealand in 2022 at the Para Swimming World Series in Indianapolis. At 15 years old, Smith impressed by winning bronze in the 100m breaststroke on her international debut.

Just a couple of months later, Smith debuted as Aquablack #274 at the 2022 Para Swimming World Championships in Madeira, celebrating her 16th birthday during the competition. Taking on a busy event programme, Smith impressed with multiple finals appearances at the championships, including a fifth-place finish in the S10 400m freestyle.

Speaking of her experience at her first world championships, Smith reflected on the 400m freestyle: "It was such a cool experience. I raced against my hero, Aurelie Rivard of Canada, who wished me 'happy birthday' and 'good luck'. It was one of the hardest races of my life, but I am pleased to finish fifth at my first Worlds."

Later that same year, Smith joined coach Todd Mason at Vikings Swim Club.

Smith started 2023 in style, claiming gold in the 400m freestyle at the Melbourne leg of the 2023 Para Swimming World Series.

Competed at her second meet of the series in Singapore, Smith backed up her gold medal-winning performance from Melbourne by topping the podium again in the 400m freestyle. She was also part of the silver medal-winning New Zealand mixed relay teams in the 4x100m medley (34 points) and 4x100m freestyle (34 points) events.

Smith had another strong showing in Manchester at the 2023 Para Swimming World Championships, highlighted by a seventh place finish in the SB9 100m breaststroke.

At 18 years old, Smith made her Paralympic Games debut at Paris 2024. Taking on three events at the Games, Smith impressed on debut by making finals in the SB9 100m breaststroke and SM10 200m individual medley - placing seventh and eighth, respectively, and notching a personal best time in the latter event. She also swam the S10 400m freestyle where she finished in 12th place.

Smith is proud to give back to the sport by volunteer coaching at the Parafed Canterbury swim programme. There, she uses her knowledge and experience to support the next generation of kids with disabilities entering the sport.

Favourite motto: "Control the controllable".

💥 Two-time finalist on Paralympic debut at Paris 2024

At just 18 years old, Smith made her debut at the Paris 2024 Paralympic Games. There, she qualified for two finals, taking seventh place in the SB9 100m breaststroke and eighth place in the SM10 200m individual medley. She also placed 12th in the S10 400m freestyle.

💥 Five-time finalist at Para Swimming World Championships

Smith is a five-time finalist at the Para Swimming World Championships, after competing at the 2022 and 2023 editions. Her best finish at a World Championships came in 2022, courtesy of her impressive fifth-place finish in the S10 400m freestyle.

🥇 Five-time medallist at Para Swimming World Series

Since competing at her first Para Swimming World Series meet in 2022, Smith has accumulated five open-age medals. She took two golds in 2023, topping the podium in the 400m freestyle at both the Melbourne and Singapore stops, and has two silvers in relay events plus a bronze in the 100m breaststroke.

💥 Debuted as Aquablack #274 at 2022 Para Swimming World Championships

Made her Aquablack debut at just 15 years old at the 2022 Para Swimming World Championships in Madeira. Smith celebrated her birthday part-way through the championships.