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Australia has dominated the local leg of the Para-Swimming World Series, taking home 40 medals and “igniting the fire” for the Paris Games, now just six months away.
Melbourne played host to 121 athletes representing 13 nations over the three-day event. The Dolphins won a total of 12 gold medals out of the 23 possible.
Paralympic medallist Tim Hodge picked up three gold medals, the most out of the 61-strong team, followed by Ben Hance and Jake Michel with two victories each.
Hodge (S9) collected gold in the men’s 100m butterfly, 200m medley and 400m freestyle. He also added a silver to his haul in the men’s 100m backstroke.
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In women’s events, Jasmine Greenwood (S10) won gold in the 50m freestyle and two silver medals in the 50m and 100m backstroke.
“I felt that my past weekend was a good meet overall, with some strong performances for my second competition of the year,” Greenwood said.
“It was great to have some international visitors and race against each other.
“My program of events was larger than usual and I swam some events that I normally wouldn’t, but I think it was really good for me to gain practice and experience as a pretty versatile swimmer.”Greenwood said she was happy with her progress towards Paris 2024.
“I’m feeling really happy… having already swam some QTs and picking up from where I left off last year at Worlds times-wise,” she said.
“My best results were in the 50m freestyle where I swam about 0.2 off my personal best, as for my 50m butterfly, and the 50m and100m backstroke, where I swam a personal best and a seasonal best.
“In the meantime, I am training hard and staying positive and well, with an exciting year ahead.”
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Three-time Paralympic champion Lakeisha Patterson (S9), who took home a silver in the 400m Freestyle, said the event was an opportunity to fine-tune her skills.
“It was a great couple of days to just see where we’re at and really ignite that fire for Paris,” she said.
“To see so many athletes do well, I found it pretty evident that everyone’s kind of shifted a gear up now it’s a Paralympic year.“You can really see that everyone’s focused and really determined on putting together those performances for Paris.”
Patterson has her eyes set on the 400m freestyle (S9) and potentially the 100m freestyle (S9) and 200m medley.
“A Paralympic year is always exciting and nerve-wracking all at the same time, but I know I’ve been training incredibly hard,” Patterson said.
“(Now) it’s just being able to see where we’re at and fine tune all those little, tiny things and the one percenters from now up until Paralympic trials in June.
“Then on towards the Games, so it’s definitely very exciting and I’m really keen to see what else I can do this year.”
Paralympic Performance Coach and Paris 2024 Campaign Head Coach Greg Towle said it was a great opportunity for athletes and coaches to come together to practice and refine their skills.
“The World Series also allowed us to expose our athletes to relays where we saw several of your young athletes step up and race with and against existing team members,” Towle said.
“We got see some very exciting swimming such as the 100 freestyle which really set the standard for things to come in June.”
The World Series now takes a three-week break before moving to Italy.
Another four meets are scheduled before the Paris 2024 Paralympic Games, in the US in April, Singapore and Berlin in May, and France in June.
The season will then resume in November with the last two events of the calendar.
By: Natalie McGarry, Paralympics Australia
Posted: 28 February 2024
