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Top Swimmers to Lead Spain at London 2012
Teresa Perales and Sarai Gascon make up a strong Swimming delegation included in the team Spain will send to the London 2012 Paralympic Games. 09 Jul 2012
Teresa Perales is one of the IPC's One to Watch athletes for the London 2012 Paralympic Games.
At the last Summer Games in Bejiing, Spain won 15 gold, 21 silver and 22 bronze medals for a total of 58 medals. The nation is hoping to capture 60 medals in London and finish in the top 10 in the medal standings.
Spain confirmed the 142 athletes on Friday (6 July) that the country will send to the London 2012 Paralympic Games.
The Spanish delegation will consist of 224 people, including 142 athletes across 14 sports, as well as trainers, coaches, guides and medical and organizational staff.
The largest contingent from Spain will compete in Swimming, with Teresa Perales and Sarai Gascon headlining the lineup in the Aquatics Centre.
Perales, who will compete in her fourth Paralympics, triumphed at the Beijing 2008 Games, racking up three golds, a silver and a bronze in the pool. She took some time off after the event to give birth to her child and then returned to the sport in July 2011 to win eight medals at the IPC Swimming European Championships in Berlin.
At the age of 15, Gascon won just one silver medal in Beijing in her Paralympic Games debut. But after capturing four golds at the 2011 IPC Swimming European Championships, she is well on her way to make a splash at the London 2012 Games.
Xavi Torres Ramis, Richard Oribe and Enhamed Enhamed will also be major medal contenders at the Aquatics Centre.
The 24-strong Athletics delegation from Spain will include recent European champions Roger Puigbo Verdaguer and Joan Munar Martinez.
Verdaguer won three medals at last month’s IPC Athletics European Championships in Stadskanaal, the Netherlands, taking gold in the 400m and 800m T53 distances, as well as a silver in the 5,000m T54 event.
Martinez struck gold in the 100m and 200m T13 events in Stadskanaal as the youngest member of Spain’s delegation at 16 years old.
Jordi Morales Garcia, Jose Manuel Ruiz Reyes and Alvaro Valera will be part of a Para-Table Tennis squad that is also expected to take home some hardware.
At the last Summer Games in Bejiing, Spain won 15 gold, 21 silver and 22 bronze medals for a total of 58 medals. The nation is hoping to capture 60 medals in London and finish in the top 10 in the medal standings.
The complete list of Spain’s 142 athletes can be found here.
Related Images
Sarai Gascon is an up-and-comer on Spain's Swimming delegation.
