Grant Patterson

Scooter – named after the scooter he uses to get around – first hit the pool as an 11-year-old. Para-swimming wasn’t necessarily his first choice – rather, it was one of the only sports available to people like him with diastrophic dysplasia who dreamed of competing internationally. And before anything else, Scooter is a competitor.

In 2007, Scooter met his current coach, Andrew ‘Herbie’ Howard, who immediately recognised his talent, and together they worked towards selection to the 2008 Australian Paralympic Team. Ultimately, one-and-a-half seconds was what stood between Scooter and a Games debut in China, and he spent the next four years making up for it.

A world record at the 2009 Australian Swimming Championships saw Scooter go down in history as the first S3 athlete to break the two-minute mark in the men’s 100m backstroke, while an impressive debut performance at the 2010 World Championships was followed by a seven-medal haul at the 2011 Pan Pacific Para-swimming Championships in Edmonton, Canada.

Finally, the 2012 Paralympic Games arrived in London, England, and Scooter was there waiting. While he did not win a medal, competing at the Games remains the highlight of his career, and after eight long years – and two medals at last September’s 2019 World Para-swimming Championships – he had a chance to compete at a Games for the second time.

During his campaign at Tokyo 2020, Grant achieved his childhood dream of winning a Paralympic medal when he secured the bronze medal in the men’s 150m individual medley SM3. He finished in third with a time of 3:05.57 behind his teammate Ahmed Kelly.

Grant went on to also claim a silver medal, posting a new Oceania record time of 1:00.76 in the men’s 50m breaststroke SB2. Going head-to-head with his Mexican counterpart, Arnulfo Castorena came out on top in 57.24.