Canada's Benoit Huot celebrates a victory in the men’s 200m individual medley SM10 at London 2012.
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Canada's Benoit Huot gets set to race the men's 100m backstroke S10 at the London 2012 Paralympic Games.
© • Getty Images
Huot’s swimming career started in 1998 when he won five medals, including gold in the 1,500m open water race, at the World Championships in Christchurch, New Zealand.
‘The Shark’, as his team mates call him, first time participated in the Paralympics in Sydney in 2000. He went on to win three gold and three silver medals.
At the 2002 World Championships in Mar del Plata, Argentina he made a real name for himself winning seven medals, four of which were gold.
His finest competition to date was arguably the Athens 2004 Paralympic Games, a competition where he won five titles, broke three world records and also picked up a silver medal.
Due to his success in Athens, Swimming World Magazine named him World Disabled Swimmer of the Year 2005.
After four bronze medals at the 2008 Beijing Games, the huge golf enthusiast won one gold and three silver medals at the 2010 IPC Swimming World Championships in Eindhoven, the Netherlands.
Inducted into the Canadian Disability Hall of Fame in 2011, Huot took three podiums in his fourth Paralympic Games at London 2012. He broke the world record to take gold in the 200m individual medley, and also won a silver and bronze medal.
Huot was chosen as flag bearer for the Canadian team at the London 2012 Paralympic Games Closing Ceremony. "I would say it's by far the greatest honor that I can receive as an athlete," he said.
The veteran swimmer, who is in the S10 classification, will be looking for further honours when his home country hosts the 2013 IPC Swimming World Championships.
