Paris 2024: Para swimming greats highlight growth of Paralympic Movement

Para swimming stars including USA's legend Jessica Long on Tuesday praised the growth of Paralympic Movement over the years, highlighting the rise of women participation in the recent past.

Long was joined by four others New Zealand's Cameron Leslie,  Brazilian Gabriel Geraldo Dos Santos Araujo, Simone Barlaam from Italy and Canada's Tess Routliffe as they shared their excitement and goals for Paris 2024 Paralympics at a press conference.

The Paris 2024 Games will witness the cream of Para swimming with a total of 607 athletes competing in 141 medal events at Paris La Defense. 

Long, the 16-time Paralympic champion in S8 category, will be appearing in her sixth Paralympic Games in Paris since making her debut at Athens 2004 as a 12 year old.

"It feels pretty amazing to be back because at one stage I didn't know if I would be.

“I was 12 at my first Paralympics and the first thing I noticed was the Paralympics needed to grow because a lot of people didn’t understand how incredible the Paralympic movement was. I wanted to change that and try to play my part in growing the movement. It's been really amazing to see how much it has grown," she said highlighting that the ‘super humans’ campaign helped grow the movement immensely in USA. 

Role Models

These Games will also witness 1,983 women competing in the French capital, which represents 45 per cent of the total number of competitors  - 4,400 athletes competing in 22 sports - beating the previous record set at Tokyo 2020 (42% with 1,846 women out of 4,393 athletes).

“Those are incredible numbers. As Paralympic athletes we're already fighting just to be equal with the Olympians, and we take it a step further with being women and wanting to prove that we are equal to men.

“We are role models and I think that's so important for the next generation of little girls, and it's so important for the visibility to see what we're capable of."

Routliffe is returning to the Paralympic Games since Rio 2016, aiming for winning her first Paralympic gold.

“It kind of feels like the longest and shortest eight years ever. Ever since Rio (2016) I've been dying to get back to a Paralympic Games. I was ready to go to Tokyo, and then I got injured (with) 11 days to go, and so now being back here, it's kind of surreal.

“We're back at a Paralympic Games, back where I feel like I'm meant to be and I'm really excited to be here,” said the two-time world champion at Manchester 2023.

Female Participation

The 25-year-old from Auckland, representing Canada, stressed that women participation is crucial for the growth of the movement. 

“We saw on the Olympic side too, women dominated this year in multiple countries, US and Canada too. 

“We are seeing a lot more people wanting to represent women with disabilities and women in their field and that’s really important. We are showing what women are really capable of.”  

Likewise, Leslie, the three-time Paralympic champion in S4, will be returning to Paralympics for the first time since Rio 2016, having chosen to miss Tokyo 2020 after becoming a father.

“It’s cool to be back, feels like a long time since my last Paralympic Games. 

“I was gutted to miss the Tokyo Games, but it was the hardest, easiest decision to make, even though we (New Zealand) also qualified in (wheelchair) rugby, so it would have been epic to do two sports, but it was the right decision,” said the 34-year-old who has been chosen as the flag-bearer of New Zealand team along with Anna Grimaldi.

“I’m here to compete and I want to be on the podium. That's the goal. I don't want to go home empty-handed," added New Zealand's former wheelchair rugby player.

Motivated Araujo

Promising Dos Santos Araujo said he is all the more motivated to participate and defend his titles at Paris.  

“I'm very competitive, so everything I do is in order to win. There's so much suffering in my training, so this is what I work so hard for, but also when I’m in the water, I want to have fun and enjoy swimming because I love it.

“In Tokyo I was still unknown in the Paralympic and sports environment, so there wasn't much pressure on me, and I had trained so much for that moment. Now this time around is a little different. I feel very well-prepared and there are also the supporters. I love adrenaline and I think that regardless of having people cheering for you or against you, I'm more motivated," said the two-time Paralympic champion in Tokyo.

Meanwhile, Barlaam spoke of his challenges and how he overcame them. 

“I sometimes felt sick at the thought of jumping in the water to race, but that time kind of opened my mind. Of course, I worked on myself a lot. I learned many different aspects of my personality that I didn't think of before.

“After Tokyo I took some time off. I started training with an able-bodied club. I started reconnecting with all my friends and family. And by slowly doing that and working on myself, I fell in love with swimming again, and I'm here. I'm very grateful to be here.”

The Para swimming programme kicks off on Thursday (29 August) and you can follow all the action on the World Para Swimming channels on Instagram, Facebook and X.