Part III: NSWIS 44 ready for Paralympic medal haul in Rio

Part III of our Paralympic preview is a focus on Swimming – one of our most successful Paralympic disciplines, Wheelchair Basketball, Wheelchair Rugby and Wheelchair Tennis. Can our athletes deliver top performances and come home with medals? Check out our athletes who will be hopeful of striking gold in Rio.

READ PART I HERE

READ PART II HERE

Swimming: There will be 10 NSWIS swimmers who will hope to help their sport again be the most successful Paralympic discipline for the Aussies in Rio.

Leading the charge will be Ellie Cole who won four gold and two bronze medals in London and will this year lead the swimming contingent alongside Queensland’s Brendan Hall.

Three-time Paralympian Prue Watt will also be there as she looks to defend her 200m breaststroke title from 2012. Meanwhile Matthew Levy will aim to deliver another gold in the 4x100m freestyle relay and improve on the one silver and three bronze medals won in other events.

Then there is Maddison Elliot, who shot to prominence when she became Australia’s youngest ever Paralympian to win a gold medal, doing so in the 4x100m freestyle aged 13. She won alongside Cole. Both return to defend the title.

Debutant Tiffany Thomas-Kane from Ravenswood will join Queensland’s Katja Dedekind as the youngest member of both the swimming team and entire Australian team at 14-years-old.

Our Stars: Ellie Cole (S9 50m, 100m & 400m Freestyle, 100m backstroke, Women’s 4x100m Freestyle Relay (34pts), Women’s 4x100m Medley Relay (34pts), Mixed 4x50m Freestle Relay (20pts)), Jenna Jones (S13 50m Freestyle, 100m Freestyles, 100m Breaststroke, 100m Backstroke & 200m Individual Medley, Women’s 4x100m Freestyle Relay (34pts), Women’s 4x100m Medley Relay (34pts), Mixed 4x50m Freestle Relay (20pts)), Kate Wilson (S6 50m Freestyle, 100m Freestyle, 100m Breaststroke & 200m Individual Medley, Women’s 4x100m Freestyle Relay (34pts), Women’s 4x100m Medley Relay (34pts), Mixed 4x50m Freestle Relay (20pts)), Maddison Elliot (S8 50m, 100m & 400m Freestyle, S8 100m Butterfly, 100m Backstroke & 200m Individual Medley, Women’s 4x100m Freestyle Relay (34pts), Women’s 4x100m Medley Relay (34pts), Mixed 4x50m Freestle Relay (20pts)), Matthew Levy (S7 50m Freestyle, 50m Butterfly, 100m Freestyle & 200m Individual Medley, Men’s 4x100m Freestyle Relay (34pts), Men’s 4x100m Medley Relay (34pts), Mixed 4x50m Freestle Relay (20pts)), Paige Leonhardt (S9 50m Freestyle, 100m Freestyle, 100m Breaststroke, 100m Backstroke, 100m, Butterfly & 200m Individual Medley, Women’s 4x100m Freestyle Relay (34pts), Women’s 4x100m Medley Relay (34pts), Mixed 4x50m Freestle Relay (20pts)), Prue Watt (S13 50m Freestyle, 100m Freestyle, 100m Butterfly, 100m Breaststroke & 200m Individual Medley, Women’s 4x100m Freestyle Relay (34pts), Women’s 4x100m Medley Relay (34pts), Mixed 4x50m Freestle Relay (20pts)), Sean Russo (S13 50m Freestyle, 100m Freestyle, 100m Backstroke, 100m Butterfly, 100m Breaststroke & 200 Individual Medley, Men’s 4x100m Freestyle Relay (34pts), Men’s 4x100m Medley Relay (34pts), Mixed 4x50m Freestle Relay (20pts)), Tiffany Thomas Kane (S6 50m Freestyle, 50m Butterfly, 100m Freestyle, 100m Butterfly, 100m Backstroke, 100m Breaststroke & 200m Individual Medley, Women’s 4x100m Freestyle Relay (34pts), Women’s 4x100m Medley Relay (34pts), Mixed 4x50m Freestle Relay (20pts), Timothy Hodge (S9 50m, 100m & 400m Freestyle, S9 100m Butterfly, 100m Backstroke & 200m Individual Medley, Men’s 4x100m Freestyle Relay (34pts), Men’s 4x100m Medley Relay (34pts), Mixed 4x50m Freestle Relay (20pts)) (Click on a name to find out more about the athlete!)

Wheelchair Basketball: Brett Stibners is a two-time Paralympian and an instrumental member of the Australian team, the only NSWIS athlete to be selected.

He won gold in Beijing and silver in London and returns for Rio in the quest of gold, or at the very least to help keep Australia’s record of winning at least one wheelchair basketball at each Paralympics since 1996 alive.

Our Star: Brett Stibners (Click on the name to find out more about the athlete!)

Wheelchair Rugby: Intense, physical and exhausting. Wheelchair rugby is a high-pressure game played over eight minute quarters, and there’s a trio of NSWIS players hoping to defend Australia’s gold medal.

The first of those is Ryley Batt, the man considered the best player in the world. In London he scored 160 goals for Australia, 37 during the gold medal match. He also has a silver medal from Beijing.

So too does Cameron Carr who was with Batt in both those campaigns and returns for his third Games in Rio.

Then there is the debutant Andrew Edmondson. A budding rugby star, his life changed after a surfing accident at the age of 13. Now he is one of Australia’s best up-and-coming wheelchair rugby athletes.

Our Stars: Ryley Batt, Cameron Carr, Andrew Edmondson (Click on a name to find out more about the athlete!)

Wheelchair Tennis: Three-time Paralympian Ben Weekes and 2012 Paralympian Adam Kellerman are the NSWIS representatives on a four-strong Australian team.

Australia has claimed just one single Paralympic gold in wheelchair tennis, won by ITF Hall of Fame inductee David Hall during Sydney 2000. Weekes and Kellerman are both aiming to be our second.

Our Stars: Ben Weekes, Adam Kellerman (Click on a name to find out more about the athlete!)