The 17-year-old Callum Simpson — who has secured a gold medal in the S8 100m freestyle swimming — looks set to become a real star of the future building towards the Brisbane Games in 2032.
Simpson led after 50m but had to summon all his might to beat American Noah Jaffe by 0.02 seconds. Simpson had already won gold as part of Australia’s relay team.
In the men’s S14 100m backstroke swimming, Ben Hance smashed the world record with a time of 56.52 seconds.
Afterwards, Hance paid tribute to his late father, who died earlier this year. And after his medal ceremony, Hance ran down the side of the pool at La Defense Arena waving the Australian flag and hyping up the crowd.
Silver and bronze
Swimmer Tim Hodge was awarded a silver medal in the men’s S9 100m butterfly.
Hodge has cemented his standing as a star of the Australian swim team with two golds acquired earlier at this Games. He finished some way off Italy’s Simone Barlaam but will be leaving Paris with his stock incredibly high.
Swimmer Lewis Bishop has taken a bronze in the men’s S9 100m butterfly. The 19-year-old — who lost his leg at age 10 in Papua New Guinea — was last at the turn but powered home to the podium alongside Hodge at his first Games.
Also in the pool, Tom Gallagher came third in the men’s S10 backstroke. Gallagher showed an incredible burst of speed in the final 25m to edge out Italy’s Ricciardo Menciotti to secure a spot on the podium.
His medal adds to a 50m freestyle gold and a 100m freestyle bronze won earlier in the Games.
Twenty-four-year-old swimmer Emily Beecroft has also won bronze in the women’s S9 100m butterfly. She had only previously won medals as part of a relay team but has finally got an individual gong.
Rachael Watson came fourth in the women’s S4 50m freestyle but was notched up to win the bronze after Brazilian Patricia do Santons was disqualified for a false start.
Medal Table (as of day nine)
As of day nine, Australia is at ninth place on the medal table, with a total of 52 medals: 16 gold, 13 silver and 23 bronze.
China is leading with 188 medals: 83 gold, 64 silver and 41 bronze.
In second place is the UK, with a total of 100: 42 gold, 34 silver and 24 bronze.
The US is trailing them with 86 in total: 31 gold, 36 silver, and 19 Bronze.