Teresa Perales Fernández (born 29 December 1975) is an S5, SB4, SM5 classified Spanish swimmer, politician and motivational speaker who has won a total of 27 Paralympic medals at the 2000, 2004, 2008, 2012, 2016 and 2020 Summer Paralympics. She is the most decorated Spanish Paralympian in history.
In 1995, at the age of nineteen, Perales was diagnosed with neuropathy and lost the use of her legs within three months. Following the 2000 Games, she earned a Diploma in Physiotherapy and married Mariano Menor. She later had a child with him following the 2008 Games. In addition to swimming, Perales has been a politician, teacher, entrepreneur and motivational speaker. As an Aragonese Party (PAR) politician, she was in office from 2003 to 2007. Following her departure, she co-wrote an autobiography with her husband. Despite having no plans to return to politics, she was symbolically on the 2011 ballot for PAR as a member of the Congreso de los Diputados. Perales has supported a number of causes including Doctors Without Borders, Fundación Carlos Sanz and Fundación Vicente Ferrer.
Taking up swimming at the age of 19, she joined the Aragon-based disability sport club CAI CDM a year later. A year after that, in 1997, she competed in her first Spanish championships, in which she earned several medals. The following year, she made her national team debut at the IPC (International Paralympic Committee) Swimming World Championships in Christchurch, New Zealand, where she earned a bronze medal. She then went on to compete in the 1999 European Championship, 2000 Summer Paralympics, 2001 European Championships, 2002 IPC World Championship, 2004 Summer Paralympics, 2006 IPC World Swimming Championship, and 2008 Summer Paralympics. She took a break from swimming following the 2008 Games to give birth to her son. She returned to the pool in 2011 for the European Championship and then competed at the 2012 Summer Paralympics. She earned at least one medal in every Paralympics, European Championship, and World Championship in which she competed.
Because of her sporting achievements, Perales was awarded the Gran Cruz del Mérito Deportivo and the Medalla de Oro de la Real Orden del Mérito Deportivo. She has earned several other honors including being named the Woman of the Year by the Spanish women's magazine Mujer hoy.
Personal
Perales was born in Zaragoza on 29 December 1975. She has one sibling, a brother, who is seven years younger than her. When she was 15 years old, her father died from leukemia, and she was then raised by her single mother. At the age of 19, she developed neuropathy and lost feeling in her legs over a three-month period. The condition is relatively rare, and doctors did not initially know how to treat it. Instead, they were waiting to see how it progressed before deciding on the proper treatment. When she left the hospital for the first time in a wheelchair, she was embarrassed because she felt a need to explain to others the events that led to her becoming a paraplegic. She has very little leg strength and no sensation in her legs, and if she cuts herself while shaving her legs, she cannot feel the cut. Prior to contracting neuropathy, she was an active karate practitioner. The last time she was able to walk without assistance was on 10 May 1995 during the celebration of Zaragoza's la Recopa victory. Perales earned a Diploma in Physiotherapy, which she earned from the Universidad de Zaragoza where she was a student from 1996 to 1999.
Perales is married to Mariano Menor and has one child, a son. Perales met her husband, a journalist, during the 2000 Sydney Paralympics because he was interviewing her. They started dating following those Games. He proposed to Perales at the Eiffel Tower following a taxi ride to the location and a limo ride back to a Paris hotel. She married him in 2004 after the Athens Paralympics. She had problems selecting a wedding dress because some interfered with her ability to roll in her wheel chair. She got married in the Basilica of Our Lady of the Pillar in 2005. She stood up from her wheelchair in order to take her vows. The ceremony was attended by a number of high-ranking political figures. She had her son after the 2008 Beijing Paralympics.