Australia Names Paralympic Squad

Photo Courtesy: Steve Christo/Swimming Australia

After some outstanding performances at the 2016 Hancock Prospecting Australian Swimming Championships, 31 athletes have today been nominated to the Australian Paralympic Committee for the Rio 2016 Paralympic Games.

Australia has competed in swimming at every Summer Paralympic Games, winning a total of 391 medals – 119 gold. This proud tradition of success looks to continue at the Rio Games which will take place from 7 – 16 September 2016.

The squad has a great mix of youth and experience, with three-time Paralympians Matthew Levy, Jeremy McClure and Rick Pendleton nominated alongside rising stars such as 14-year-old Tiffany Thomas Kane and 15-year-old Timothy Hodge.

The Aussie swimmers have thrown a warning sign out to the rest of the world this week, breaking three World Records and showing they have a lot more left to give when Rio comes around.

On the first night of competition, dual Paralympian Ellie Cole thrilled the crowd and surprised herself when she broke the S9 World Record for the 50m freestyle. The 24-year-old who is also the current World Champion in the event, swam 28.75 seconds to smash the record which has stood since 2008.

“For 50m freestyle – leg amputees aren’t very good at it,” Cole said. “Natalie du Toit held the record before and to follow in her footsteps has been a dream of mine since I was a really little girl. I am absolutely speechless with that time.

“I’ve been on the Australian swim team for 10 years now and performances like that just really remind you of what it is all about. No matter how long you swim for or are an elite athlete for there are still surprises like that so I am really happy with that swim.”

After winning gold in world record time at last year’s IPC World Swimming Championships, Sydney schoolgirl Tiffany Thomas Kane has gone from strength to strength and shown she will be a real threat when she makes her Paralympic debut in Rio.

The 14-year-old school student set a new world record time of 44.50 in the 50m breaststroke and also won the Multi-Class 200m individual medley.

“It’s been a really good meet,” Thomas Kane said.

“I have been so surprised because I didn’t think I would go that well. Doing the times I wanted to do and going that well, it was great.”

“Rio is going to be an amazing experience. It’s not going to be easy, it’s going to be hard work but I’ll have my friends on my side and it’s going to be so fun.”

Three-time Paralympian Jeremy McClure raised the bar in the men’s S11 50m backstroke, setting a new World Record of 32.22. The 28-year-old from Canning Lightning will hope to take his blistering pace into the Paralympics.

Australia has been allocated 36 slots for the swimming competition at Rio 2016. Swimming Australia will make the five additional nominations to the Australian Paralympic Committee over the coming weeks.

Swimming Australia contributed this report.

First Name	Last Name	Club	State
Joshua	Alford	Tuggeranong Vikings	NSW
Michael	Anderson	USC Spartans	QLD
Jesse	Aungles	Marion	SA
Emily	Beecroft	Traralgon	VIC
Liam	Bekric	Norwood	SA
Blake	Cochrane	USC Spartans	QLD
Ellie	Cole	Castle Hill	NSW
Taylor	Corry	Nelson Bay	NSW
Rowan	Crothers	Yeronga Park	QLD
Timothy	Disken	PLC Aquatic	VIC
Katherine	Downie	Westside Christchurch	WA
Maddison	Elliott	Newcastle University	NSW
Daniel	Fox	Chandler	QLD
Brenden	Hall	Lawton	QLD
Guy	Harrison-Murray	USC Spartans	QLD
Timothy	Hodge	The Hills	NSW
Tanya	Huebner	Melbourne Vicentre	VIC
Braedan	Jason	USC Spartans	QLD
Jenna	Jones	Springwood	NSW
Ahmed	Kelly	Melbourne Vicentre	VIC
Matthew	Levy	Cranbrook Eastern Edge	NSW
Jeremy	McClure	Canning Lightning	WA
Ashleigh	McConnell	Melbourne Vicentre	VIC
Monique	Murphy	Melbourne Vicentre	VIC
Lakeisha	Patterson	Yeronga Park	QLD
Rick	Pendleton	USC Spartans	QLD
Logan	Powell	USC Spartans	QLD
Sean	Russo	MLC Marlins	NSW
Madeleine	Scott	Canberra	NSW
Jacob	Templeton	USC Spartans	QLD
Tiffany	Thomas Kane	Ravenswood	NSW
Team Leader
Adam	Pine
Head Coach
Brendan	Keogh
Coaches
Angelo	Basalo	Cranbrook Eastern Edge	NSW
Jan	Cameron	USC Spartans	QLD
Harley	Connolly	Lawnton	QLD
Nathan	Doyle	Castle Hill	NSW
Lachlan	Falvey	Ravenswood	NSW
Rick	Van Der Zant	Yeronga Park	QLD
Yuriy	Vdovychenko	National Training Centre	ACT

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Jazz

8 years ago

Why on earth are those two S8 female swimmers Elliott & Patterson on that list? They should be long gone from the sport

Sour grapes

8 years ago

Reply to Jazz

Sour grapes hey Jazz. Too many people out there judging others on what they hear from a 3rd party. If you dont know the specifics about a case then I suggest you mind your own business.