Huot: Three athletes to look out for at Toronto 2015

Ahead of Toronto 2015, Huot took time out of his preparations to look ahead at some of the athletes he believes will take Canada by storm.

Canadian Paralympic champion Benoit Huot emerged from the IPC Swimming World Championships in Glasgow, Great Britain, with two silvers and one bronze medal, delivering him to the Toronto 2015 Parapan Am Games as one of the favourites to take gold from 7 August.

In Glasgow, the S10 swimmer looked more focused than ever before, and believes that the Parapans provide the perfect opportunity to highlight the quality of athletes from the region.

He also credits it as the reason he is still competing:

“The objective is to go to Rio and one of the reasons I am still in the water is the Para-Pans this summer. It’s very rare that you get to race on home soil, in front of friends and family, and one of the challenges is to increase the awareness of what we do and educate the general public. This will be an amazing opportunity for us to do that. It has made it easier for me to stay motivated.”

Ahead of Toronto 2015, Huot took time out of his preparations to look ahead at some of the athletes he believes will take Canada by storm.

Andre Brasil, Brazil

As one of his main rivals, Huot is right to single out Brasil as a one to watch. As a six-time Paralympic gold medallist, Brasil also collected a further three World Championships titles in Glasgow.

He is also the defender of four individual Parapan Am titles from Guadalajara 2011 as the pair prepare to go head-to-head in the pool.

Daniel Dias, Brazil

Daniel Dias cemented his position as one of the greatest para-swimmers in history at the Worlds, winning seven gold medals in seven days in men’s S5 and SB4 events. That was nothing however compared to his performance from Guadalajara 2011 where he stormed to 11 titles.

Phelipe Rodrigues, Brazil

Another one of Huot’s main competitors, alongside Brasil, Rodrigues completes an awesome trio which will no doubt entertain in Toronto.

Going into Glasgow 2015, Rodrigues was confident of taking Brasil’s title over 50m freestyle and also had his eye on the 100m, having been faster in both events pre-Worlds. But Brasil took the gold in both events, ahead of Rodrigues.

Huot’s speciality meanwhile remains the 200m individual medley.

Toronto 2015 will be the fifth edition of the Parapan Am Games, which will feature over 1,600 athletes competing across 15 sports. Tickets are still available.