Tokyo Triumph For Aussie Farm Boy Col Pearse And His Paralympic Dream Created In a Dairy Farm Dam<\/strong><\/p>\n

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BITE SIZED BRONZE: Col Pearse and his prized bronze medal in the 100m butterfly. Photo Courtesy: Delly Carr (Swimming Australia).<\/p><\/div>\n
From training in a murky, leech infested dairy farm dam to Paralympic bronze in Tokyo last night \u2013 Aussie country teenager Col Pearse has a story to behold, surviving Covid pandemic lockdowns and 18 months of heartache and hope.<\/p>\n
The 18-year-old schoolboy who left the family farm in Echuca in country Victoria four years ago to chase his Paralympic dream in Melbourne \u2013 training in Kew under Swimming Victorian Paralympic coach of the Year Matt King.<\/p>\n
As a two-year-old in 2005 Pearse had his right foot amputated from below the ankle after an accident involving a ride-on lawn mower on the family farm.<\/p>\n
Growing up this-tough-as-teak country kid did not let his disability in anyway hinder his active farm lifestyle, turning his talents to swimming and the dream of one day becoming a Paralympian.<\/p>\n
That dream was realised in the Tokyo Aquatic Centre last night after a tough 18 months when he thought his hopes would be shattered by Covid-19 lockdowns and Year 12 commitments, forcing him to miss the Australian Trials, saved by qualifying times he had swum at the Australian Championships.<\/p>\n
And an anxious tearful wait to see if he would in fact make the team \u2013 his the very last name read out by commentator, celebrated Paralympian Annabelle Williams and out of alphabetical order.<\/p>\n
Pearse\u2019s video reaction is priceless, posting: \u201cI\u2019m Absolutely stoked to be named on the Australian Paralympic Team for Tokyo 2021- a literal dream come true!! Melbourne Lockdown 4.0 and the commitments of Year 12 meant that I wasn\u2019t able to compete at Trials in Adelaide. Thankfully, I had swum times enabling me to nominate for selection, and well, here we are! Emotions were running high on Wednesday night while we waited to learn whether I had booked my ticket or not, and well I guess the video speaks for itself.\u201d<\/p>\n
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A post shared by Col Pearse (@col_pearse)<\/a><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/blockquote>\n