One of Swimming Queensland’s favourite swimming daughters, Rachael Watson, who started swimming for rehab, continued her extraordinary career on Day Six of the 2024 Paralympic Games in Paris today, winning bronze in the 100m freestyle for S3s
Watson finished in a time of 1:38.92 to win her third Paralympic medal from three Games, after capturing back-to-back 50m gold medals in Rio 2016 and Tokyo 2020 as an S4 before being reclassified as an S3 after the World Championships last year.
The 32-year-old was in the mix for gold until just before the 50m turn, eventually finishing behind American world record holder Leanne Smith, whose 1:28.81 was a new Paralympic record with Spain’s Marta Fernandez Infante claiming silver in 1:30.04.
Watson’s bronze added to the growing medal count by swimmers from Australia’s premier swimming State, taking the total to 10 individual medals (One gold, three silver and six bronze) from Australia’s total of 11.
Born with mild Cerebral Palsy, Watson has lived with Guillain Barre Syndrome since her 20s which led to severe muscle weakness and peripheral nervous system damage resulting in quadriplegia requiring her use of a wheelchair.
She began swimming as part of her rehab and has gone from strength to strength since starting her Paralympic career at Chandler in the lead up to and then qualifying for the Rio Paralympics where she won the first of her gold medals.
Her third-place finish was one of two bronze medals won by Australia’s Dolphins with ACT-based WA 18-year-old Alex Saffy clocking a personal best and setting an Oceania record with his 56.61 in the 100m butterfly for S10s.
"I'm really proud of myself," Watson said when asked about collecting her third Paralympic medal.
"But I'm prouder of my team around me; the people who actually support me to be able to swim the race I'm able to swim.
"A lot of people obviously don't see the behind-the-scenes work that goes into it.
"Being able to pull it together when there's been challenges is something really special for me and my team."
And her bronze was a special birthday present accompanied by a poolside shout out, for a valued member of that team, Australian Olympic icon, Dawn Fraser, who turns 87 today… “And happy birthday to Dawn who has been my mentor.”
2024 PARALYMPIC GAMES SWIMMING MEDAL TALLY
GOLD (2)
Tom Gallagher (S10) - 50m freestyle
Jesse Aungles, Tim Hodge, Emily Beecroft, Alex Leary, Keira Stephens, Callum Simpson (34pt) 4x100m Mixed Medley Relay
SILVER (4)
Lakeisha Patterson (S9) - 400m freestyle
Rowan Crothers (S10) - 100m freestyle
Jack Ireland, Madeleine McTernan, Ruby Storm, Ben Hance - 4x100m Mixed Freestyle Relay (S14)
Jake Michel (S14) 100m breaststroke
BRONZE (6)
Brenden Hall (S9) 400m freestyle
Rowan Crothers (S10) 50m freestyle
Jack Ireland (S14) 200m freestyle
Grant “Scooter” Patterson (SM3): 150m IM
Tom Gallagher (S10) 100m freestyle
Rachael Watson (S3) 100m freestyle
Photo Courtesy Delly Carr (Swimming Australia)
