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Golden Duo Bounce Back In Style

Golden Duo Bounce Back In Style
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Three-time Paralympic gold medallist Lakeisha Patterson and defending World Champion Katja Dedekind each showed phenomenal resilience to score resounding wins on Day 5 at the Para Swimming World Championships in Manchester.

Both swimmers have faced major obstacles since Tokyo 2020 and were disappointed to an extent with their early performances at these Championships. However, drawing on strength of character and their supportive networks, they re-established their superiority in their pet events.

Patterson is the two-time reigning Paralympic gold medallist in the Women’s 400m Freestyle, even after being reclassified from S8 to S9 between Rio 2016 and Tokyo 2020. She also won the event at the most recent World Championships in which she competed, in London in 2019.

“I feel on top of the world, literally. I’m just so ecstatic,” Patterson said.

“It’s been a really tough year, so I think coming into these World Championships it was all about trying to put the process together.

“The start of my week didn’t go the way I had planned, so it was just about regrouping and I’m so blessed that I have some pretty incredible people around me to rally me and get me focused on the big one, the 400 which is my main event.”

Dedekind came to Manchester as the reigning world champion in the 50m Freestyle S13 and Commonwealth gold medallist, where she broke the world record, before undergoing shoulder surgery. She won minor medals earlier in the week but took a different approach for the 50.

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“I’m chuffed. That’s how you come back after two days of nothing going your way,” Dedekind said.

“Don’t get me wrong, I’m happy with a silver and bronze, fantastic after the past 18 months or two years of stuff that’s been going on with me. But that’s how you come back and just have fun.

“I changed my whole mindset, I was having a giggle the whole afternoon.”

Australian Team veteran Brenden Hall shaved an incredible seven seconds off his Heat swim to claim the bronze medal in the Men’s 400m Freestyle S9 in 4:15.55. Tim Hodge finished fifth in the same race with a time of 4:17.20.

Jasmine Greenwood also won bronze, swimming 1:08.13 in the Women’s 100m Butterfly S10 and Col Pearse won bronze in the Men’s 100m Butterfly S10 in a time of 57.18. Alex Saffy finished the race in fifth in 59.18 and Will Martin finished sixth in 59.58.

Two-time Paralympic gold medallist in the Women’s 50m Freestyle S4, Rachael Watson, fought her way through the field to claim the bronze medal in the same event in 40.49.

Jenna Jones finished her Women’s 100m Freestyle in 1:02.98, taking sixth spot, Paige Leonhardt and Ricky Betar finished seventh and sixth respectively in the Women’s and Men’s 200m Individual Medley S14. Ahmed Kelly came seventh in the Men’s 50m Freestyle S3.

A busy night ended with Australia taking fourth in the Mixed 4x100m Medley Relay.

Day 1 Wrap: Sprint King Crothers Fires First Shot For Australia 
Day 2 Wrap: Aussie Team Favourite Finally On Top Of The World
Day 3 Wrap: ‘Cobweb Swim’ Jags A Bonus Medal For Dedekind
Day 4 Wrap: ‘Miracle’ Swimmer Bursts Onto The Scene With World Championships Gold

By: David Sygall, Paralympics Australia
Posted: 5 August 2023