Ben Popham

On talent alone, freestyle specialist Ben Popham has what it takes to become one of his country’s Para-swimming greats.

Ben, who has diplegic cerebral palsy, was seven when his physiotherapist gave him two choices – Para-equestrian or Para-swimming. As fate would have it, he chose the pool, and spent the next decade working towards selection to the Australian Para-swimming team.

That call-up would come at the 2018 Pan Pacific Para-swimming Championships. Ben exploded onto the world stage as only a star knows how, with dual gold in the men’s 100m freestyle S8 and men’s 4x100m freestyle 34 Points, alongside Paralympic teammates Matthew Levy, Timothy Disken and Rowan Crothers.

And it was no fluke, either. Competing at last September’s World Para-swimming Championships in London, England, Ben won three of the Australian team’s 23 medals – silver in the men’s 100m freestyle S8, and bronze in the men’s 50m freestyle S8 and men’s 4x100m freestyle 34 Points.

Now, as he looks ahead to the Tokyo 2020 Paralympic Games, where he hopes to make his Paralympic debut, Ben says that becoming a Paralympian would justify all those early mornings, training over partying, sacrifices he has made to become one of the best Para-swimmers in the world.

Outside the pool, Ben is studying a Bachelor of Commerce at WA’s Curtin University, which he hopes to finish post the Paris 2024 Paralympic Games.