The 20-year-old swimmer from the New South Wales, who has cerebral palsy, proved the most successful athlete of London 2012 as she claimed eight wins from eight events to break Siobhan Paton's Australian record of six gold medals at a single Paralympics.

Her performance at the Aquatics Centre in Stratford also saw Freney named as the Australian Paralympic Committee (APC) 2012 Paralympian of the Year, an accolade which is featured on the commemorative stamp.

Previous APC Paralympians of the Year commemorated on an instant stamp sheetlet were Paton and Matthew Cowdrey, the swimmer who won five golds at London 2012 to become Australia's most decorated ever Paralympian with a total of 13 golds.

"There can be no doubt that Jacqueline Freney is a deserving winner of this award and Australia Post is delighted to support and commemorate her achievements through the release of this special stamp," said Australia Post philatelic group manager Michael Zsolt.

"We're confident that Australians share our pride in not only Jacqueline's incredible achievements, but those of all our competing athletes."


APC chief executive Jason Hellwig said that Freney is fully deserving of the honour and can now be considered among Australia's sporting greats.

"Jacqueline has worked incredibly hard to get to where she is today so it's great to see her recognised in such an iconic way," said Hellwig, who served as Australia's Chef de Mission at London 2012.

"She is an exceptional athlete and her outstanding achievements at this year's Paralympic Games make her very worthy of this recognition."

The Jacqueline Freney commemorative stamp was designed by Simone Sakinofsky of the Australia Post Design Studio.

The sheetlets are now available through participating Australia Post retail outlets or online by clicking here.

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November 2012: Freney named 2012 Australian Paralympian of the Year