Liam Bekric was born with Retinitis Pigmentosa, a hereditary, degenerative eye condition that results in tunnel vision and can lead to blindness. It was detected when he was six years old.
Liam started swimming lessons when he was three years old. His older brother swam at a club and Liam wanted to join so he could be the fastest and beat him.
He started competitive swimming in 2011 and had his breakthrough year in 2014.
He competed at the Australian Open Championships for the first time in 2014 and in November that year won a bronze medal in the multi-class 50m breaststroke at the Australian Short Course Championships. Liam was just 13 years old, the youngest competitor at the event, racing competitors 10 years his senior. He was just 0.1 of a second off getting silver.
At the 2015 Australian Open Championships Liam made the final in the 50m breaststroke finishing fifth and the 50m butterfly finishing seventh.
Liam made his Paralympic debut in Rio, where he finished fourth in the final of the 100m breaststroke. He also competed in the 400m freestyle, 100m backstroke and 200m individual medley however did not progress to the finals.
Before focusing on swimming, Liam used to play cricket, karate, basketball and soccer. He is a huge soccer fan and lists Lionel Messi among his heroes.
Liam has the nickname ‘Aquaman’ because of his love of comics. He is a Marvel enthusiast – collects comic books, posters and DVD sets. He also likes playing his Xbox in his free time.
In the future, Liam would like to be a school teacher. It is his goal to be the best in the world for 50m, 100m and 200m breaststroke. He is an ambassador for Variety and the Royal Society for the Blind – Dark to Light walk.
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