Paralympic golden boy Benjamin Hance On World Record Pace At Australian Open Championships
Paralympic star Benjamin Hance has opened his 2026 Australian Open Championship campaign on world record pace – setting a new mark in the S14 category 50m butterfly at the Gold Coast Aquatic Centre today.
The 25-year-old from St Andrews on the Queensland Sunshine Coast clocked a time of 24.17 to set a new Virtus World Record – taking 0.10secs off his own world record set at the 2025 Hancock Prospecting Queensland Championship last December.
The Ashley Delaney-coached two-time Paralympic gold medallist from Tokyo and Paris will get the chance to lower the mark again in tonight’s final.
Hance showed he was on song in the opening event of the three-day meet – the 50m backstroke – clocking 25.76 – just 00.17 off his own world mark and swum in an open event.
Her was actually the third fastest qualifier for tonight’s final behind Mark Nikolaev (Somerset, Gold Coast) 25.44 and 2024 World Champion Isaac Cooper – his training partner at St Andrews.
Hance finishing ahead of New Zealand’s Ethan MacDonald (26.09) and Paris Olympian Bradley Woodward (Mingara, NSW) 26.15.