I was swimming at the AIS one day when a young woman and young man walked past in high-performance prosthetic legs. They were of course on their way to the pool where the professional athletes train so I didn’t get to find out just how much faster than me they could swim, but I know that even with their prosthetics put aside (in the usual convention) they would have left me in their wake many times over.
This August we’ve had a chance to see our Australian Paralympians demonstrate their talents in the 2020 Paralympics in Tokyo, and it’s been so impressive. And close to home for us, we have two BGL students and one alumnus who have been competing in the Tokyo games! Here is a little bit about these amazing athletes.
Matt Levy OAM is a recent Graduand of BGL, having earned an MBA in Innovation and Leadership (Ducere) in March this year. Matt is also a veteran Paralympic swimmer who has previously won 2 gold, 1 silver and 4 bronze medals. This year in Tokyo he competed in the 50m freestyle (S7) and 100m breaststroke (SB6). And impressively, Matt and his 3 teammates won gold in the 4x100m freestyle relay on 30 August! Congratulations Matt and team!
Jesse Aungles is student in Politics and International Relations. He is also a Paralympic swimmer for Australia who has previously competed in the Commonwealth Games and broke a world record in the men’s 200m backstroke S8 in 2015. Jesse came 4th in both this year’s Men’s 100m Backstroke (S8) and the Men’s 100m Breaststroke (SB7) in Tokyo. You can catch him swimming in the Men’s (S8) 100m Butterfly at 10:40am this Friday, 3 September.
Ari Gesini is also a Politics and International Relations student. Tokyo 2020 has been Ari’s Paralymic debut, where he competed in both the Men’s T38 100m race and long jump. He is a successful recipient of a Tier 1 Scholarship from the Sport Australia Hall of Fame Scholarship & Mentoring Program where he’s been paired with George Gregan as a Mentor. Ari’s goal is to win gold in the Paris 2024 Paralympics, so, keep an eye on this athlete – he’ll be one to watch!
With just a few days left of the 2020 Tokyo Paralympics, you can still catch some of the action until the end of Sunday. And don’t forget to catch Jesse Aungles last race at 10:40am on Friday!
Food for thought from Tracey Dickson: On the cycling track in the C2 classification where riders may be riding with just one leg, the leaders were averaging 50km/h over 3km. “I can’t do that with 2 legs!” said Tracey.
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