Rio rendezvous for NSWIS swimmers

A team of 11 Paralympic swimmers including NSWIS stars, world record holder Maddison Elliott and Jacqueline Freney, will travel to Rio next week, to compete at the Brazil Open in Sao Paulo from April 24 to 26.

After successfully qualifying for either the Para Pan Pacific or Commonwealth Games team at the recent Australian Swimming Championships, the athletes will use this competition to gain more international racing experience ahead of the major meets taking place in July and August this year.

Joing Elliott and Freney will be fellow NSWIS athlete Matthew Levy as well NSWIS coach Angelo Basalo.

With the team getting the chance to tour the 2016 Paralympic sites and become familiar with the sights, city and culture, travelling to Rio will allow swimmers to get a taste for racing in the next Paralympic host country.

The team will depart Australia on Friday April 18 and return on Tuesday April 29 with the competition taking place from April 24 to 26.