Doing it for dad: Hance seals Paralympic gold after ‘worst year’ of his life

Paris: A phone call from Olympian Kyle Chalmers and coach Ash Delaney in Las Vegas helped motivate Ben Hance to back-to-back Paralympic medals on Friday evening just six months after the unexpected death of his father in the “worst year” of the young swimmer’s life.

After breaking the men’s 100m backstroke (S14) world record in the heats, Hance obliterated the field to win by 1.5 seconds – narrowly outside his new lifetime best – before jumping up on the lane rope and pointing to the sky.

Hance, who has an intellectual disability, mouthed the words, ‘I love you Dad’ in a heartwarming tribute to his father Tony, who passed away in March at the age of 55.

Hance was a pallbearer during an emotional funeral in March, just three months before Australia’s Paralympic swimming trials in Brisbane.

“I was just thanking my father for everything he’s done,” Hance said. “He always loved my backstroke and I’m glad I gave him a gold medal tonight.

“Worst year of my life. I’m glad this season’s over. I’m glad I got a gold medal now. I’ve over-accomplished this season by a country mile.”

Ben Hance points to the sky after his gold medal swim. Credit: Getty Images

Hance also said on Channel Nine: “There is also other things I won’t mention on camera that could have ruined my life. I’ve never dealt with death. I just wanted to win the gold medal for him.”

Hance’s father had purchased a ticket to be in Paris at the Paralympics to watch his son but did not make it. The Victorian swimmer’s sister, aunt and cousins were in the stands at the La Defense Arena showing their support to one of the Paralympic team’s most talented athletes.

“He was supposed to be in the stands,” Hance said. “It’s super special [other family members to be here]. I just enjoyed the work [at training]. Best 10 weeks of training in my life. Enjoyed every minute of it.”

Hance, who won gold in this event in Tokyo three years ago, trains under Delaney, an Australian Olympic silver medallist, at St Andrew’s Anglican College on the Sunshine Coast.

In Hance’s squad features the likes of Olympic gold medallist Kyle Chalmers and rising backstroke star Isaac Cooper.

Delaney and Chalmers aren’t in Paris – they’re in Las Vegas on a holiday to watch the UFC – but made sure they gave Hance some words of wisdom before his big final.

“I have got a funny story … Kyle actually gave me a call from Vegas today with Ash as well,” Hance said. “It was really nice.”

Ben Hance celebrates his gold.Credit: Getty Images

Elsewhere, Tim Hodge backed up his gold medal from Thursday with a silver in the men’s 100m butterfly (S9) before saying he thought there should be greater funding for Paralympians.

Australia has won six gold medals in the pool in Paris, with one day of competition remaining. The Dolphins won eight swimming golds in Tokyo.

“Especially for young swimmers, that initial financial hurdle of being able to supply a suit or to find a club that is willing to coach is something that I think we really need to change if we want to incentivise participation in para-sport,” Hodge said.

“I know that there was a study done not long ago where they kind of compared all these different Australian teams to who the Australian public related to, who was the most trusted … I’m pretty sure the Australian Paralympic team broke the record for high score on that study. We beat the Olympic team, beat all the NRL teams.

“I guess we are the one that relate to the Australian public the most because I think that while the Olympics is the epitome of human excellence, the Paralympics is the epitome of human resilience. For people at home, they can relate.

“They might see someone on the TV missing a leg or an arm or any other number of conditions, and they go, ‘Well, they can do that. Why can’t I?’

“Whereas watching the Olympics, I can go, ‘Yes, Australia is the greatest, but I can’t see myself doing that’. I think the Australian public relates more with the Paralympics.

“In order to kind of build that Paralympic movement and make sure it draws for future generations, I think that the funding really needs to be there.”

Meanwhile, there was also another gold medal courtesy of Callum Simpson in the men’s 100m freestyle (S8).

“It felt amazing,” said Simpson, whose father was captain of England’s rugby sevens team. “The hard work back at home definitely is paying off now. I couldn’t be more grateful for everyone in my corner back at home.”

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