Liesette Bruinsma: 3 things you didn’t know

With just two months to until the World Para Swimming Championships in Mexico City, Mexico, Dutch teenager Liesette Bruinsma has hit form at just the right time.

The Netherlands swimmer took gold in the women’s 400m freestyle in the final World Series event in Berlin to add to her five Paralympic medals from Rio 2016.

And as Bruinsma continues to make waves in her sport, here are three things you may not know about the 16-year-old S11 swimmer in her own words.

She was named 2016 Paralympic Athlete of the Year by the Dutch Olympic Committee and the Dutch Sport Federation.

"I work together with other Paralympic athletes from my region. We want to motivate other people with an impairment to try sport. We want to bring Paralympic sports to everyone's attention."

She makes fun of her visual impairment

"I use a lot of self-mockery. I make some jokes with the verbs to see, to view, to look and sight in general. We have a lot of expressions with these words in Dutch."

She looks on the bright side

"I try to 'see' everything positively. I think you make your life easier if you do that."