Alexa, who’s the fastest speed machine? Paralympic swimmer Alexa Leary

Alexa Leary’s parents thought they had lost her after a horrific bike crash – now she’s tipped to win the 100m freestyle at the Paris ­Paralympics.

Australia’s triumphant 34-point mixed 4x100m medley relay squad with their gold medals. Picture: PA

Alexa Leary’s parents thought she was bound for the cemetery.

Now she’s favourite to win the 100m freestyle at the Paris ­Paralympics.

Sport is a funny old game but isn’t life itself the most humorous and unpredictable contest of all?

Leery has brain damage. It feels awkward to interview her. You’re loath to ask anything that may cause her to fly off the ­handle. Which can happen.

Yet you don’t want to be condescending and treat her like a child. I guess there’s a middle ground to be found.

The safest question seems to be, how it’s going, mate?

“I’m a speed machine,” she keeps saying ahead of her shot at the 100m freestyle S9 Paralympic title on Thursday at 3.35am (AEST). “And I’m a weapon.”

Leery stole our hearts with her wildly uninhibited post-race ­interviews at the Paralympic trials in June.

Her father, Russ, bursts into tears every time he talks about her. Who can blame him?

It was Russ who found his daughter in a horrific pool of blood, broken bones and brain damage after her high-speed ­cycling accident on Queensland’s Sunshine Coast in 2021.

It was Russ and his wife, ­Belinda, who were told eight times to say goodbye to their daughter during her 111-day hospital stay.

Out, out, brief candle – this is what I keep thinking when I see Leary skipping around the pool deck. She wasn’t meant to be here, ­she wasn’t meant to be anywhere.

It’s a funny old game, S9 Paralympic swimming. Leary’s handling herself so well. You adore her. You just have to.

There’s an absolute innocence to every word. There’s never been an open book like her.

It was Russ, following his girl’s staggering anchor leg of Australia’s triumphant 34-point mixed 4x100m medley relay, who said the family thought they would be off to the cemetery a few years ago. Now they’re at the Games.

“She never ceases to amaze,” Russ said. “Unbelievable. That was an incredible swim. She just knew what to do in the end. I never, ever doubt her.”

Speedster Alexa Leary carves through the water. Picture: Getty Images

Leery should win the 100m and yet we cannot know for certain how she will handle the occasion. The certainty is we’ll know how she’s feeling.

Prediction? She’ll throw punches at the TV camera when her name is announced. March to her block like a boss. Perhaps swear like a trooper. Rev up the crowd.

And then? Who knows. You’ll watch her every step and stroke of the way. You just have to.

The relay was a stunner. It’s a funny old game, the 34 points 4x100m mixed medley relay.

Australia was down and out when Leary hit the water. Back in fourth. Swimming with the fishies. A whopping 6.28 seconds and 20 metres behind. Goodnight, nurse.

The Netherlands’ Thijs van Hofweggen was in the water. He has cerebral palsy.

It was Leary’s intellectual impairment versus van Hofweggen’s physical condition. Someone is plastering ­“Cerebral Ballsy” signs all over the Paralympic ­venues.

Hear, hear.

Leery caught van Hofweggen, though. Mowed him down and went to town with hale and hearty celebrations alongside her ­unbelieving teammates Jesse Aungles, Tim Hodge and Emily Beecroft. Callum Simpson and Keira Stephens received gold medals for swimming in the heat.

The Paralympics themselves are a funny old game.

“That was really good by our team,” Leary said.

“We were a bit of a powerhouse. I was watching us and I was like, ‘Come on, come on!’ When I saw at the end, I was like, ‘I’m going to have to weapon myself out here. We’ve got to take home the gold.’

“I was like, ‘I’m just going to have to do it myself.’ I knew I had to catch him. I’m going to have to overtake him.

“I could see him and I was like, ‘I just have to take this win.’

“I just had to. I caught him. I just had to.”