Swimmer Madeleine McTernan wins silver medal at Tokyo Paralympics
A former Coffs Coast athlete’s Paralympic achievement was made all the more remarkable after she overcame an unusual change to her schedule.
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Former Coffs Harbour swimmer Madeleine McTernan has broken her own Australian record to become a silver medallist in Tokyo.
The 20-year-old para swimmer achieved a long-held dream to make the Australian Paralympic team in July and has now taken her career to the next level by picking up silver in the Mixed 4 x 100m Freestyle S14 class.
Parents Paul and Allison McTernan were over the moon with Maddie’s performance, which was made all the more remarkable given it came without a warm-up.
While most events include heats in the morning, some late withdrawals meant the team progressed straight to the final, meaning they went without a heat to “get the nerves out”.
“What makes this even more remarkable is Maddie came in blind,” Mr McTernan said.
“If you have any hiccups and nerves you lose that (in the heat) and focus on the final at night and that is what Maddie has always done.”
He said it was a massive achievement.
“That is three times she has broken her own Australian record ... in the last 10 months,” he said.
“You can’t ask for anything better than that.”
Maddie’s time of 1:00.32 was almost a second faster than her previous record and personal best and the Australian relay team was more than five seconds quicker than at the World Para-Swimming Championships in London in 2019.
In December, the records tumbled as Maddie set the pool alight at the Hancock Prospecting Australian Virtual Short Course championships. Not only did she set a New Australian record in the 200m Freestyle Multi-class, she broke the world record in the 400m Freestyle Multi-class.
The McTernan family swapped the Coffs Coast for the Gold Coast in 2017 in an effort to help Maddie achieve her dream of representing Australia at Tokyo, following in similar footsteps to the region’s other swimming sensation Maddy Gough.
Gough also secured her place on the Australian Olympic team and reached the final of the 1500m Freestyle, the first time the event was held for women.
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