This Paralympian Turned Artist Is Proud To Be Called A Freak
- Anna Mae
- Sep 7, 2016
- 1 min read
''“What’s the difference between ‘freak’ and ‘table’? A word is just a word,” says Sarah Houbolt, the diminutive artist who traded competitive swimming for the circus and now refers to herself as a “natural born freak”.
Houbolt, who was born with Hallermann-Streiff syndrome, has suffered the insult of words cast callously all her life. But she has not receded into a corner. Instead, she sees her disability as an exquisite uniqueness. Recently, it has helped her build a career as a circus performer, reinvigorating characters like the 1930s sideshow superstar “Koo Koo the Bird Girl”.
But before the circus, there was swimming. And Houbolt was good. As a nineteen-year-old she represented Australia at the 2000 Sydney Paralympics, competing in breaststroke and butterfly...''
by Nicola Harvey
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