Lead report by Swimming Australia; followed by reports from Aquatics GB and Swimming Canada, with thanks.

Dolphins Ben Hance and teenager Callum Simpson were the headline acts on Super Saturday with Australia scooping up six medals – including Hance and Simpson’s emotional golds – at La Defense Arena on the penultimate night of swimming finals at the 2024 Paralympics.

But this could be boosted to seven if sprint veteran Rachael Watson survives a late protest on her bronze medal in the women's 50 freestyle S4 by Brazil's Patricia Pereira dos Santos.  The result of this won't be known until later today (Saturday).

Earlier in the night, sitting on the lane rope and pointing to the sky, Hance – who broke his own world record in the heat  – paid tribute to his late dad in what he described as “the hardest year of my life” and simply said “thank you dad”.

Hance is the first to defend a men’s 100m backstroke S14 title, touching in 57.04, with teammate Ricky Betar 6th in a PB (1:00.33).

Simpson, in Year 11 at Matthew Flinders Anglican College on the Sunshine Coast, put his head down and got the fingernail touch by 0.02 second on USA’s Noah Jaffe to win gold in the men’s 100m freestyle S8.

Just seven hundredths of a second separated Simpson’s winning time of 58.23 to Italy’s Alberto Amendo (58.30) who claimed bronze.

“It's everything I dreamed of, and I finally had my dream … it’s finally come true. It's amazing, it honestly is, and I wouldn’t be able to get here without my family," Simpson said.

The seventeen-year-old had a golden start to his debut Paralympic Games, winning gold as a heat swimmer in the mixed 4x100m medley 34pt relay and now an individual gold.

It was a frenzy of medals for the Australians – with a haul of five in 45 minutes: Tom Gallagher with bronze; silver and bronze to Tim Hodge and Lewis Bishop, bronze to Emily Beecroft and Hance’s gold – which was then topped up by Simpson’s gold.

While the night glittered with Hance’s and Simpson’s gold; it was the eloquent Hodge who delivered perhaps the gold-medal quote of the Games: “The Olympics are the epitome of human excellence and the Paralympics are the epitome of human resilience." 

It was Gallagher that kicked off Super Saturday with a bronze by 0.12 seconds in the men’s 100m backstroke S10.

The 25-year-old Gallagher had broken through for the Australian team’s first gold medal of the 2024 Paralympics in the 50m free on day one - and this morning AEST added the men's 100m backstroke S10 bronze after clocking 1:01.34. This made it three medals from three events at these Games for Gallagher.

“I don't really do too much backstroke, but I try bloody hard. And you know, I think this week was just about racing and I got the job done,” he said.

"I’m buggered … this week has been about racing … I can't believe it, to be honest. Oh, that was the most painful race I've ever done in my life. So just yeah, I'm speechless."

Lewis Bishop waited until Day 9 to make his Paralympic debut in Paris and the nineteen-year-old’s patience paid off with a bronze in the men’s 100m butterfly S9 behind Iron Man Tim Hodge.
 
Bishop was eighth at the turn and stormed home with a PB of 1:01.08, to get the touch – just 0.02 ahead of Italy’s Federico Morlacchi.

“I’m lost of words to be honest, all I wanted to do is to make the team and then I made the final and then I got a bronze, it’s an incredible feeling,” said a grateful Bishop, who as a nine-year-old was out on the water with family and friends knee boarding when his leg became damaged by the boat’s propeller. 

Joining the boy from Brisbane on the podium was Hodge, claiming his third medal in Paris. Hodge touched in second (1:00.03) behind Italy’s Simone Barlaam who set a European record of 57.99.

Competing in six events, Hodge had the busiest program of the Australian swim team. He closed his stacked campaign with two golds, from the medley 4x100m 34pt relay and the men’s 200 IM SM9 and now a silver.

“An absolutely insane race, I was hoping to go under a minute but still a really good race, now I’m happy to soak it all in because as quick as it (Paralympic Games) comes it goes and you don’t get too many in your life” said the three-time Paralympian.

Like Hodge, Rachael is a three-time Paralympian and after overcoming a slow start, the triplet touched fourth (41.17) but was initially awarded bronze in the women's 50m freestyle S4 after Brazil's dos Santos was disqualified for a false start.

Watson, an S3 swimmer swimming up a class, produced the fastest 50m freestyle performance of her career – a PB and Oceania record. If the protest is dismissed, it will be the 32-year-old’s second bronze after her third place in the 100m free S3.

Three-time Paralympian Emily Beecroft won her first individual Paralympic medal at these Games, a bronze in the 100m butterfly S9, after her shock gold medal in the 34 points 4x100m mixed medley relay with Jesse Aungles, Hodge and Alexa Leary.

Beecroft’s execution was almost perfect to touch in 1:07.96 with American Christie Raleigh-Crossley winning gold in a Paralympic record time of 1:05.19. Hungary's Zsofia Konkoly won silver 1:097.96.

For full results, see here.
 
What do the classifications mean?

• S1-S10 for athletes with physical impairments.
• S11-S13 for athletes with visual impairments.
• S14 for athletes with intellectual disabilities.

Classifications explained in full here.

Maskill Takes Third Gold To Become ParalympicsGB Most-Decorated Athlete In Paris With 5 Medals

From Aquatics GB

Poppy Maskill became a triple Paralympic champion at her first Games, with teammate Olivia Newman-Baronius on the podium with her for bronze, while Mark Tompsett and Maisie Summers-Newton also took third places as ParalympicsGB's swimmers further boosted their sensational medal count with one day of action remaining.

Maskill has shown with every swim at her maiden Paralympics just how comfortable she is at this level - and things were no different as she brought home gold in the Women's S14 100m Backstroke to become GB's most decorated athlete at these Games with a day to go, in a race that also saw Newman-Baronius claim her first individual Paralympic medal by finishing strong to take bronze.

There was also a backstroke bronze for Tompsett as he charged down the final 25m to claim a podium place at this first Games, with Summers-Newton starting the night by delivering her third medal of the meet and her first over freestyle with Women's S6 400m Freestyle bronze.

For Poppy, it was another strong delivery as fastest seed in lane four, the 19-year-old trailing Valeriia Shabalina by more than half-a-second at the turn but reducing that deficit entirely by 75m and then moving clear with every stroke in the closing stages to seal her third title, and fifth medal in all, of this incredible Games. Newman-Baronius was third for bronze, while Megan Neave - another on her Paralympic debut - put together a strong race to place fourth in a GB one-three-four combo. Said Poppy.

"I was a little annoyed because it's not a personal best, but I'm still really, really happy because I've won, and that's the best you can get! It's a great achievement. I knew it could be a close race between me and Shabalina and Olivia as well, so I knew it was going to be tough. I just had to try hard and then see where I came.

"It [being the most decorated ParalympicsGB athlete in Paris] is really cool. I wouldn't have expected it to be me, I thought it would be Maisie or Alice [Tai], someone like that!"

As for Newman-Baronius, she felt she had saved one of her best performances until last at a debut Games that also saw her play a crucial part in the stunning Mixed S14 4x100m Freestyle Relay triumph, as Maskill did as well.

"It was probably one of the best races I've had here. I've had a few off races, getting used to the crowd and everything is a lot, but I'm really happy with that, it went how my coach told me to swim it and that's really good," said Olivia.

"It definitely gives me confidence, but at the same time, a lot of the fourth places gave me more motivation to do better. It's good that I've been here and got that experience for the future.

"Everyone is really supportive on the team. I'm quite close with Bruce Dee and Harry Stewart, they give me a lot of support when I'm a bit upset after races, they make me feel a lot better about it. I've been rooming with Alice, she's a really good role model. She's told me so many stories and makes me feel better when I've not done as well as I want as she has been there."

In the men's event, the patience of Mark Tompsett was well and truly rewarded. He, alongside compatriot Louis Lawlor, had had to wait until day nine of the swimming programme to get into the water, looking strong in the heat to qualify second fastest and setting a new S14 British record of 59.19.

In the final, he was fourth at the turn as Will Ellard - already a triple medallist in Paris - sat third after an explosive opening 50m. As Australia's Benjamin Hance went clear for gold, a battle between Ellard, Tompsett and Brazil's Gabriel Bandeira for the other podium places unfolded, Bandeira pulling clear for silver and Tompsett's final strokes to the wall seeing him edge ahead of Ellard to claim that bronze.

"I feel amazing, I can't explain it, it just means everything. It has been a good day. Getting a British record and beating my PB that I haven't beaten in a while was great, and then almost getting there again tonight and winning the bronze is amazing," he said.

"It's amazing how quick it's all been, six months has gone in absolutely no time to get here now. Me a year ago wouldn't know what he's done, he'd have been like, 'what, no way!' It means everything now."

While Ellard was fourth in the final, Lawlor placed seventh, having set a superb new personal best of 1:00.41 in the heats and going just outside that in the evening.

The first Friday medal came courtesy of Maisie Summers-Newton, who was never outside the top three on her way to an inaugural Paralympic S6 400m Freestyle bronze.

"I'm really pleased. Going into the race, I was going in as third-fastest so I was hoping to come away with a medal, and to keep that position, I'm pleased. Ending the week like that, after my two golds earlier in the meet, I'm chuffed," said the now-five-time Paralympic medallist.

"There is a mixture of emotions at the end of it. You are so tired, but at the same time, it's really sad, because to have a Games like this, it's been so special. And then there's also joy as you can rest and recover now, and have fun supporting the rest of the team. We have been doing so amazingly, so I'm really looking forward to doing that tomorrow.

"The progress we've made as a team with all these new athletes is spectacular, I couldn't be more proud of them, they've all worked so hard. The attitude they all have here is brilliant, all working really hard and just focusing on the race you have at hand. I couldn't be more pleased for them all."

Massabie sets world record in historic Paralympic win

From Swimming Canada

Sebastian Massabie put an exclamation point on the penultimate day of swimming at the Paris 2024 Paralympic Games.
 
Massabie won the men’s 50m freestyle S4 in a world record 35.61 Friday to capture Canada’s first ever medal in the S4 sport class. Japan’s Takayuki Suzuki finished second in 36.85, while previous world record holder Ami Omer Dadaon of Israel was third in 37.11. Massabie knocked .64 off Dadaon’s previous mark, taking an early lead and finishing strong.
 
“I feel really, really happy, excited, and proud of myself,” said 19-year-old from Surrey, B.C., who trains with Head Coach Jy Lawrence at the Pacific Sea Wolves.
 
“He handled the pressure really well and he came away with what our goal was here,” Lawrence added.
 
Massabie entered the final seeded first after advancing through his preliminary heat with a Paralympic and Canadian record 36.95. Earlier in the meet he broke his Canadian records in both heats and finals of the 100 and 200 free, finishing fifth and sixth.
 
“At trials he broke all the national records but they were in the morning and he really struggled with putting together best times at night,” Lawrence said. “That has been the focus since May, is finding ways to be better at night, still going those best times in the morning but making slight adjustments at night. I’d say we were successful.”
 
Massabie is one of 10 Paralympic rookies on this year’s team. He described his first Games experience “really wonderful, five stars, really great.”
 
Two fellow rookies were among the four other Canadians competing in finals Friday. The women’s 100-m backstroke S10 saw newcomer Katie Cosgriffefinish fifth (1:09.56), while four-time Paralympian Aurelie Rivard was eighth (1:11.05) a night after winning the 400-m freestyle for her third medal of the Games and 13^th of her career.
 
Cosgriffe, owner of a bronze medal in the 100-m butterfly, had mixed feelings about the race, which saw her just .12 behind France’s Emeline Pierre for bronze.
 
“I just wanted to leave it all in the pool and that’s exactly what I did. I can’t really control what anyone else did. I’m still happy with how I raced it and I gave it my all. It wasn’t quite enough but it is what it is,” said the 18-year-old from Burlington, Ont.
 
“I would have liked to have more. Just from how I swam this season I knew that I was capable of being Top 3. It’s been a long week, we’ve been in France for a long time.”
 
Rivard, who captured silver in the event three years ago in Tokyo, expected this year’s race would be more challenging.
 
“I knew coming into this meet that it was going to be a tough one because the field was faster than previous editions, but also because the 400 was the night before. I knew I was going to have to work with a little bit less energy,” she said.
 
She highlighted the accomplishments of rookies such as Cosgriffe and Massabie in establishing themselves on the Paralympic scene.
 
“There were so many rookies here on this team for probably the first time in a decade. It was amazing to see the stars in their eyes. I could see myself a lot in them when I was at my first Games too. They all underestimated the crowd, they didn’t expect it, they were so amazed and it was so nice to see,” said the 28-year-old from St-Jean-sur-Richelieu, Que.
 
“It’s also motivating for older guys like me to keep up with the young people. Hopefully we bring them as much as they bring us and I know that when we go the team will be well taken care of. I’m excited to see them involved in the sport in the next few Games.”
 
Canada’s other finalists Friday were veteran Alec Elliot, who finished seventh in the men’s 100-m backstroke S10 (1:04.85) and rookie Mary Jibb, who came 8^th in the women’s 100-m butterfly S9 (1:13.60).