Paralympic Games: Australia’s world champion Imer Tim Hodge wants to win gold in Paris.
Australia’s world’s best IM star Tim Hodge will begin its packed program for the 2024 Paralympic Games in Paris on Friday – with the aim of giving the 23-year-old Sydneysider the one thing that has so far eluded him: Paralympic gold.
Hodge competed in his third Games after making his debut in Rio 2016, followed by Tokyo 2020, where he won his first medals – silver in the S9 category in the 200m individual medley and 100m backstroke.
IN THE CHASE FOR PARALYMPIC GOLD: Tim Hodge takes off at the Australian Championships. Photo courtesy of Delly Carr (Swimming Australia).
The multi-talented foot amputee, who lost his right foot at the age of four due to lower leg weakness, will begin his campaign on day one alongside five-time Olympian, gold medalist and Australian flag bearer Brenden Hall in the 400-meter freestyle.
Previously, 100 m breaststroke, 100 m backstroke, 200 m individual medley and 100 m butterfly as well as the 34-point mixed medley relay were added.
Hodge, trained by Misha Payne at the Australian Catholic University in Blacktown (NSW), is a two-time world champion in the 200 medley in 2022 and 2023 and has rewritten the world record books in medley swimming three times in the last three years.
A journey that aimed only to convert his silver from Tokyo into gold from Paris and to emulate the achievements of his hero, Australia’s greatest Olympic champion of all time – Matthew Cowdrey– 20-time medalist – 13 of them gold and 10 of them in individual events.
Cowdrey dominated the pool in Athens (2004), Beijing (2008) and London (2012), where he won three consecutive titles in the 100m freestyle and 200m individual medley.
Hodge, who comes from a working-class family in western Sydney, would love to reward his family with a golden celebration in Paris – and he is well on his way to making his Paralympic dream come true.
With the incentive to capitalise on its success after the Paralympics, Australia welcomed the Australian Government’s decision to financially reward Paralympians who win medals at the 2024 Paris Games.
Gold medalists receive US$20,000, silver medalists US$15,000 and bronze medalists US$10,000. This puts Paralympic athletes on a par with Olympic medalists, whose bonus payments are funded by the Australian Olympic Committee (AOC).
“I’m looking forward to Paris and I’m feeling really, really good,” Hodge said this week at the Australian team’s training camp. “I have high expectations of myself, namely personal bests in most of my races. I’ve worked really hard and improved since the trials, hopefully I’ll do a lot better in the pool and maybe, maybe set another world record in the 200 IM (medley).”
“My coach Misha Payne and I have worked very hard and we are happy with the state of my preparation. I am going into the competition quite relaxed and confident and am also looking forward to Paris.
“I can’t wait until the time comes and I finally get the chance to jump in the pool, but yes, I’m very, very confident about the future.”
Australian Head Coach Greg Towle has listed Hodge (S9), the world record holder and freestyle world champion Alexa Leary (S9), Paralympic defending champion in the 100 m backstroke Ben Hance (S14) alongside the reigning two-time Paralympic champions Lakeisha Patterson (S9) and wheelchair Rachel Watson (S4) are just some of the 30 Australian Dolphins players to keep an eye on.
Defending champion: Ben Hance aims for gold for the second year in a row. Photo courtesy of Wade Brennan (Wade’s Photos)
Leary, who has captured the imagination of a sports-mad Australian nation, dives into her Paralympic debut tomorrow (Thursday), as does another Tokyo gold medallist in Rowan Crothers in the S10 50 m freestyle and Hance in the S14 100 m butterfly.
Leary won gold in the Women’s 100m Freestyle S9 at last year’s Paralympic World Championships in Manchester, blowing away the field to take victory with an incredible performance after two years of recovering from a life-threatening accident.
The tireless Sunshine Coaster from the Gold Coast monastery fought her way back to life from an induced coma after the former triathlon champion suffered a near-fatal accident during cycling training.
Leary has set her sights on being selected for the Paris Paralympic swimming team under the wise coach Jon Bell – and is taking the Australians along on her inspiring journey.
Leary revealed how much she enjoyed the whole experience in Manchester: “I want the ‘big win’, the big win (in Paris) … and I could feel the athletes being there with me and we were all just having a lot of fun and supporting each other; that was the greatest thing.”
“Some of the others (really inspired me); the fact that (they) are in the water and (they) swim… that was a big inspiration for me.”
Among the Australian rookies to watch out for are the Queensland trio Callum Simpson (S8), Lewis Bishop (S9), Holly Warn (S7) and Hodges clubmate from Blacktown Chloe Osborn (S7)
The two youngest in the team are 15-year-old Warn (St. Hilda’s) from the Gold Coast and 17-year-old Simpson (Flinders Aquatic, Academy, QLD) from the Sunshine Coast.
Warn follows her grandfather Michael Morgan into the holy grail of sport – Morgan, a two-time Olympic rower – who won silver in the Australian men’s eight in Mexico City in 1968 and made the team again in Munich in 1972; in 1976 he took over as coach of the Australian eight in Montreal.
ROOKIES: Newcomers Chloe Osborn and Holly Warn look to make an impression in Paris. Photo courtesy of Wade Brennan
Rackley Swimming is pleased to welcome Paralympics participants Lewis Bishop into its athlete support program.
Bishop is the newest addition to the Rackley Swim Team’s Athlete Support Program, joining Olympians Tommy Neill And Sam Short – an initiative to support, develop and promote swimming talent in South East Queensland, with a focus on promoting success both in and out of the pool.
The program is part of Rackley’s ongoing commitment to developing talent and providing elite athletes with the resources they need to perform at their best. Anastasia Ellerby, Director of Sporting Pathways and President of the Rackley Swim Team Club, said, “We are honored to welcome Lewis to our program. He embodies the values of perseverance and dedication.”
Since its inception in 2021, the Rackley Athlete Program has provided financial support, personal development mentoring, and meaningful work projects – designed to complement training to equip athletes with a broad range of skills and prepare them for success beyond the black line.
Bishop is one-third of the Australian swimming team that will make its Paralympic Games debut in Paris, and Towle said Paris 2024 is just the start for the young team, with the team also focusing on LA and Brisbane 2032.
Australia has had great success in Paralympic swimming since the first Games in Rome in 1960, where the late Daphne Hilton won the country’s first-ever gold medal in the sport.
Australian swimmers have won 453 medals, including 136 gold, 160 silver and 157 bronze. We are fifth in the all-time gold medal rankings and third in overall medal totals, behind only Great Britain and the USA.
In Tokyo, Australian swimmers brought home 33 medals, including eight gold, setting the tone for the entire Australian Paralympics team.
