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The last of Australia’s five medals on a Night 3 blitz at the World Para Swimming Championships in Singapore was earned by a 20-year-old who has shown extraordinary maturity to return to elite competition after major disappointment.
Alex Tuckfield made his national team debut at 16 and won the bronze medal in the 400m freestyle S9 at the Tokyo Paralympics. However, after being re-classified to S10 – a classification in which there are no 400 metres or 200 metres events currently offered at the Paralympics – he missed qualification for Paris 2024 in the S10 100m by just 0.2 seconds.
Back in action for Australia in Singapore, Tuckfield drew on remarkable determination to capture his first World Championship medal, bronze in the 400m freestyle S10, finishing behind the Netherlands’ Bas Takken and Koehn Boyd of the US in a time of 4:06.89.
“This medal is not just for me. It’s for Australia – and my god was that fun,” Tuckfield said.
“I love this race (400m freestyle). I wish it was on the Paralympic program for S10’s, that would mean a lot to me. But, at the end of the day, it doesn’t matter, this is a medal for Australia, as well as a well-earned medal for myself.”
Tuckfield’s triumph came at the end of a successful session for the Australian Para Swimming Team, which snared two silver and three bronze medals.
‘Top Five Tuesday’ was led by Paralympic champion Tim Hodge, who has emerged as a team spearhead on the way to the Glasgow Commonwealth Games next year and the Los Angeles Paralympic Games in 2028.
Hodge, who won the 200m individual medley world championship just a day earlier, was joined on the podium by Paris 2024 bronze medallist Lewis Bishop, as the pair claimed silver and bronze respectively in the men’s 100m butterfly S9.
Bishop – fifth at the turn – showed serious back-end speed to surge home and finish third. Italy’s Simone Barlaam won gold in a championship record time of 57.96.
The result triggered a nine-minute blitz of four medals for the Australian team.
Australia’s most successful night at the meet thus far was started by Jake Michel in the men’s 100m breaststroke SB14.
In his only event in Singapore, two-time Paralympic medallist Jake Michel set an Oceania record of 1:03.51 to win silver in the men’s 100m breaststroke SB14 and claim his fifth world championships medal. It took a championship record of 1:03.36 by Japan’s Naohide Yamaguchi to snatch the gold from Michel.
“I love a close race. I love a rivalry,” Michel said.
“All the boys and I are good friends but in the pool we’re fiercely competitive and I’m glad that they are giving it their all. In the marshalling room, we all shake each other’s hands before we go out. We all respect each other and we always tell each other ‘Let’s have a good swim and just show it to the crowd’.”
In the women’s 100m butterfly S9, Paris 2024 relay gold medallist Emily Beecroft went stroke-for-stroke with Hungary’s Zsofia Konkoly and the Netherlands’ Florianne Bultje in the final 50 metres before Jialing Xu from China surged from lane 7 to claim the gold. Less than a second separated Xu in first (1:08.24), Konkoly in second (1:08.49) and Beecroft third (1:08.65).
In other results:
- Belated birthday wishes for Paige Leonhardt who celebrated her 25th birthday in Singapore and 10 years of wearing the green and gold. Leonhardt made her debut at Rio 2016 and backed up from her 100m breaststroke SB14 heat with a 1:16.49 in the final to place fifth overall. Brazil’s Beatriz De Araujo Flausino was first, more than two seconds ahead of the field in a championship record time of 1:12.61.
Full results here: https://www.paralympic.org/swimming/live-results#
Photo: Delly Carr
By: Swimming Australia and David Sygall, Paralympics Australia
Published: 24 September 2025
