Breaststrokers Take to The Blocks on Sunday

It’s going to be a tight tussle in the Men’s 100m Breaststroke (SB14) when Jake Michel takes his position behind the blocks on Sunday.

The breaststroke specialist recorded a personal best of 1:04.35 at the Australian Swimming Trials in June and heads into the race ranked second in the world for times recorded this year. Michel, who trains under Brian Glass at Carina Leagues CJ’s, will be pushed and challenged by Japanese athlete Naohide Yamaguchi, who is currently ranked number one with a seed time of 1:04.00.

Hailing from Wagga Wagga, Ashley Van Risjwijk will represent Australia for the first time when she competes in the Women’s 100m Breaststroke (SB14). Swimming alongside her will be teammate Paige Leondhardt, who is a Commonwealth Games silver medallist and took home a silver on night one in the Women’s 100m Butterfly (S14). Both athletes are currently ranked in the top ten, with Leondhardt placed second and Van Rijswijk sixth.

Australia has three athletes featuring in the S9 50m free ‘splash and dash’, including gold and bronze medallists from the 400m free – Will Martin and Alex Tuckfield – as well as Tim Disken. Disken won the silver in Rio and Martin is currently ranked fourth in the world, so both will be striving to make the final. Tuckfield, after diving in for the 400m free earlier in the week and surprisingly plucking a bronze medal, will look to gain more experience on the world stage.

In the last event of the day, the Aussies will be hoping to make it three Paralympic crowns in a row in the Women’s 4x100m Freestyle Relay (34 points) after securing the gold in London and Rio.

More swimmers in action on day five:
Women’s 50m Freestyle (S13) – Katja Dedekind and Kirralee Hayes
Men’s 50m Backstroke (S3) – Grant Patterson

Watch the Tokyo 2020 Paralympic Games live and free on Seven and 7plus from August 24 – September 5.

By: Danielle Balales, Paralympics Australia
Posted: 29 August 2021