Mexico City 2017: 10 swimmers to watch

100 days to go until Para Swimming World Championships. 22 Jun 2017
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A swimmer celebrates winning gold

Daniel Dias of Brazil celebrates winning the gold medal in the Men's 50m Backstroke - S5 Final on day 9 of the Rio 2016 Paralympic Games at the Olympic Aquatic Stadium on September 16, 2016 in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil.

ⒸGetty
By IPC

The countdown is on until the biggest para swimming event of the year. With 100 days to go until the World Championships, here are the ones you need to watch at Mexico City 2017.

1. Gustavo Sanchez (MEX)

After a disappointing performance at Rio 2016, from where he left medal-less, Sanchez believes his home World Championships are the best opportunity to bounce back and return to the spotlight.

2. Daniel Dias (BRA)

Brazil’s most decorated Paralympian ever is hungry for more and seeks to increase his medal tally at Mexico 2017. The field might have gotten deeper, but Dias wants to continue showing he is still the world’s best.

3. Sophie Pascoe (NZL)

The rivalry between the New Zealander and Aurelie Rivard promises to be one of the highlights of this year’s World Championships. Multiple Paralympic champion Pascoe will need to be at her very best to defeat the Canadian star.

4. Lorenzo Perez Escalona (CUB)

He claimed what no other Cuban swimmer before him: Paralympic gold. Perez Escalona made history at Rio 2016 by winning the men’s 100m freestyle S6 and is now hoping to repeat such feat at Mexico 2017.

5. Jessica Long (USA)

At only 25-year-old, Long will be one of the most decorated swimmers competing at Mexico 2017, having won 13 Paralympic golds and 18 world titles throughout her career.

6. Tao Zheng (CHN)

As a result of an electric shock as a child, Zheng lost both of his arms. But that did not stop him from becoming one of China’s most successful Para swimmers. In Mexico, the 26-year-old is hoping to outdo his performance from Glasgow 2015, when he took two golds and one silver.

7. Liesette Bruinsma (NED)

The Dutch teenager quickly went from being a rising star to turning into one. At her first Paralympic Games, the 16-year-old won two golds, one silver and two bronzes, confirming she will be one-to-beat in the many years to come.

8. Ihar Boki (BLR)

With six gold and one bronze medals, Boki left Rio 2016 as the most decorated Paralympian. He will try to repeat or, why not, outdo that performance in Mexico City.

9. Yip Pin Xiu (SIN)

Singapore’s only Paralympic champion ever wants to build on her success at Rio 2016, where she won two golds. Yip seeks to claim more world titles to add to the one she sealed in 2010.

10. Patricia Valle (MEX)

At 48-years-old, the veteran swimmer and three-time Paralympic champion might be in the downward curve of her career. But Valle wants to show she still has more to give and win a medal at her home World Championships in front of her family and friends.