Quartet ready to do nation proud in Brazil
Australia’s Paralympians are gearing up for Rio, with three local athletes and one coach among them.
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Australia’s Paralympians are gearing up for Rio, with three local athletes and one coach among them.
Ellie Cole
The Paralympics swim team will be spearheaded by Ellie Cole, who became the first S9 swimmer to break 29 seconds in the 50m freestyle at the 2016 Australian Swimming Championships in the 50m Freestyle.
Cole, of Granville, is an assistant performance coach at the Castle Hill RSL Dolphins and also trains there under Nathan Doyle.
This year will be the 24-year-old’s third Paralympics.
At the 2012 London Paralympics, she won four gold medals and two bronze.
Nathan Doyle
Nathan Doyle, who is the Castle Hill RSL Dolphin’s senior performance squad head coach, has been named as an Australian Paralympic swimming team coach.
The former swimmer, who took up coaching once he retired from the sport, was an Australian coach at the 2015 International Paralympic Committee World Championships and has coached Ellie Cole for the past few years.
Timothy Hodge
Timothy Hodge, who trains at The Hills Swimming and Lifesaving Club, is all set to make his debut at the Paralympics this year.
The 15-year-old, from King’s Langley, competes in the S9 category.
He broke his first Australian record in 2013 in the 50m backstroke.
A year after that, he won gold in the same event at the Australian Age Championships.
It was followed by a silver at the 2015 Australian Open Championships and he competed in four events at the IPC World Swimming Championships that same year.
Rosemary Little
Rosemary Little, of West Pennant Hills, will join the athletics team for her second Paralympics.
Little, a Paralympic bronze medallist, will compete in the 100m, 400m and 800m in the T34 category.
Little also won bronze and silver medals in the 100m and 200m finals at the 2013 IPC Athletics World Championships.
The Paralympic Games begin on September 7.
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