Silver lining for Cole in Rio pool

NSWIS swimmer Ellie Cole has come agonisingly close to a gold medal in the women’s S9 400m freestyle at the Rio Paralympics, going down to Spain’s Nuria Marques Soto by just 0.02 seconds.

Cole, swimming in her third Paralympics, looked set for the win until a last gasp lunge for the wall by the Spaniard relegated the 24-year-old from Granville to a wonderful silver medal.

It was Cole’s 10^th Paralympic medal overall, in her least favoured event of the program.

Cancer survivor Cole clocked a slick 4:42.58 before backing up in the Australian mixed 4x50m freestyle relay team that was sixth in the final.

“I didn’t realise how close it was going to be, but I enjoyed that experience so much,” said Cole.

“I have no idea why (2016 Olympic gold medallist) Mack Horton enjoys that race though, it’s tough, and I don’t think I’ll be swimming too many 400s in the future, because I like my sprint events too much.”

“I actually only entered the 400 as a last minute decision, purely on the basis that I wouldn’t be racing til day 5 otherwise, so the 400 was just really to get in and get used the Paralympic experience again.”

Cole was not the only NSWIS swimmer to taste glory with 15-year-old Paralympic debutant Tiffany Thomas Kane snaring a well-deserved bronze medal in the women’s S6 50m butterfly.

Thomas Kane put the disappointment of her day 1 disqualification in the 100m backstroke final to clock 36.81 behind Great Britain’s Ellie Robinson (35.58) and Ukraine’s Oksana Khrul (36.45).

Thomas-Kane will now focus on her main event the 100m breaststroke with a medal already in her kit bag.

Maddison Elliott, who was fourth in the 400m freestyle on day 1, was sixth on day 2 in the women’s 100m butterfly S8, while four-time Paralympian Matthew Levy was just eight one-hundreds of a second outside the medals finishing fourth in the S7 men’s 50m freestyle.

Earlier in heats at the pool, Timothy Hodge was ninth in the men’s S9 400m freestyle, missing the final that was eventually won by Australian teammate Brenden Hall, by just over half a second.

NSWIS swimmers Sean Russo, Kate Wilson, Prue Watt, Jenna Jones and Tiffany Thomas Kane will all be in the water on day 3.