Thirty-six swimming races to be contested on Day 1

Keep your eyes on Australia's Matt Cowdrey, Ukraine’s Yevhiney Bohodayko and South Africa’s Natalie du Toit on the first day in the pool. 30 Aug 2012
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A picture of a man swimming

Matthew Cowdrey of Australia races in the Heats of the Men's 200 Metre Individual Multi Class during day seven of the 2011 Australian Swimming Championships at Sydney Olympic Park Aquatic Centre.

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No time will be wasted in the pursuit for Paralympic gold, as there are no less than 15 gold medals available to fight for on the first day of the swimming at the Aquatics Centre on Thursday (30 August).

Spectators will be treated to a plethora of swimming action, with 36 races taking place over eight different disciplines.

USA, who topped the medal charts in the pool at the Beijing games, will be looking to replicate this success once more, but the Chinese and Ukrainians will prove incredibly tough opponents once again.

The morning session running from 9:30-12:00 will comprise of entirely heats with the finals all taking place in the evening session from 17:30-21:00.

One of the top athletes in the world will be the first to race in the pool, as18-year old Yevhiney Bohodayko of Ukraine competes in the men’s 100m backstroke S6 and potentially the final at 17:30.

The women’s S6 100m Backstroke and the men’s 400m freestyle S12 are to follow before Oxana Savchenko of Russia takes to the water in the women’s 400m freestyle S12. If she makes the final, it will be at 17:51.

Male and female butterfly S8 will proceed with Great Britain’s Ollie Hynd going in the men’s race, before Mihovil Spanja of Croatia enters the water in the men’s 100m S7 backstroke.

Australia will be looking to perform better in the pool in the Paralympic games compared to how they fared in the Olympics a fortnight ago.

Medal hopeful Matthew Cowdrey of Australia competes in his pursuit of gold in the men’s S9 100m butterfly, with an aim for making the final at 19:12.

The women’s Butterfly S9 is being touted as the one to watch with two stars of the sport both hitting the water. Natalie Du Toit (RSA) will be looking to send out an early warning shot to her competitors, as will Sarai Gascon (ESP). The final takes place at 19:17.

Andre Brasil, the Brazilian gold medal winner from Beijing, will be looking to repeat the feat in London as he enters the pool on the first day in the men’s 200m individual medley SM10 at 11:00 in the expectation of making the 19:39 final.

Following on from the women’s 200m IM is the first sighting of the eagerly anticipated medal hopeful Daniel Dias from Brazil in the men’s 50m freestyle S5 heats and he is looking to make the 20:09 final in his pursuit of another gold medal.

Having only learned to swim in 2004, Dias went on to win a record nine medals at the Beijing Paralympics, including four golds – more than any other athlete at the games.

The women’s 50m freestyle S5 follows soon afterwards at 11:43, with its final taking place 20:31.

Finally, the only breaststroke races of the day will complete the morning and evening sessions, with the men’s 50m Breaststroke SB2 heats commencing at 11:51, with the final rounding off an empathic day in the pool at 20:53.