Six Races To Watch At The 2024 Paralympics

2024 SUMMER PARALYMPIC GAMES

• August 28 – September 8, 2024
  • Swimming: August 29 – September 7, 2024
• La Défense Arena – Paris, France
• LCM (50 meters)
• Meet Central
• Full Schedule
• How To Watch

The countdown to the start of the Paralympic Games continues to tick. And after the opening ceremony on August 28, we only have to wait one more day until there’s swimming in La Défense Arena again. Even with five fewer events than were on the Tokyo schedule, there are still going to be 141 contested throughout the ten-day competition. If you aren’t sure where to start, we’ve made a list of six events that you should make sure to mark on your calendar.

There aren’t semifinals at the Paralympics, so the date listed for each event is for prelims and finals.

Women’s 200 Individual Medley SM8 (September 1)

Paralympic legend Jessica Long has been dominant for the better part of the last 20 years, and nowhere is that more evident than in the 200 IM SM8. In an incredible display of consistency, Long, who is a 16x Paralympic champion, has won this event at the Paralympics since the 2008 Beijing Games. She’s aiming to extend her win streak to five—but it won’t be easy.

Long had a streak going in this event at the World Championship level too, winning from 2006 to 2017. But that run was stopped short in 2019 when Great Britain’s Brock Whiston dethroned Long and broke her long-standing world record with a 2:35.30.

Whiston took time away from the sport and didn’t compete at the Tokyo Paralympics, where Long extended her streak. Long did not compete at 2022 Worlds and Whiston didn’t race in this event at 2023 Worlds, where Long got back on top of the World Championship podium. But the 27-year-old Whiston is set to make her Paralympic debut this week, meaning she and Long will face off at a Paralympic Games for the first time.

Whiston’s teammate Alice Tai will feature in this race, as will Viktoriia Ischiulova, who is racing as a Neutral Paralympic Athlete (NPA). Like Whiston, Ischiulova is entered with a faster seed time than Long, after putting up a 2:43.00 at the 2024 European Championships, though it will likely take faster than that to win.

Men’s 200 Freestyle S14 (August 31)

Tokyo champion Reece Dunn is not competing at the 2024 Paralympics, so we’ll see a new champion in this classification of the 200 freestyle. Several contenders are vying for the Paris Paralympic crown, including Dunn’s countrymate William Ellard. This will be Ellard’s first Paralympics, but he’s already made a name for himself in the sport.

In his international debut at the 2023 World Championships on home soil, Ellard claimed two relay golds and a silver in the 200 free S14. He continued his improvement trajectory this year, breaking the 100 free S14 world record (51.07) and equaling Dunn’s 200 free world record (1:52.40).

Ellard aims to take sole possession of that world record in Paris, but he’ll have to contend with the Tokyo silver medallist and 2022 world champion Gabriel Bandeira. The 24-year-old Brazilian won his 2022 world title in 1:52.42, just .02 seconds off Ellard and Dunn’s world record.

Another name to watch here is the 2023 World Champion, Canadian Nicholas Bennett. In Manchester, Bennett held off Ellard by .04 seconds to earn the title. He broke the Canadian record (1:54.20) at the 2024 Canadian Open and the 200 IM S14 world record at the Canadian Trials. His focus may be on the IM, but he can certainly contend for the podium in the 200 free, as can Australia’s Jack Ireland. Ireland has been steadily improving his place in this event, moving up from 4th at 2022 Worlds to bronze in 2023.

Women’s 50 Freestyle S13 (September 2)

At 36, Maria Carolina Santiago had an impressive Paralympic debut in Tokyo. She earned five medals—three of them gold—and became the first female swimmer from Brazil to win three gold medals in the same edition of the Games. One of those golds came in the 50 freestyle S13, and since winning the Paralympic title she’s gone on to claim gold at the 2022 and 2023 World championships. She also broke the 50 freestyle S12 world record in April, swimming 26.61.

She’s one of the favorites to defend her title, but she’ll face tough competition. S12 and S13 are combined for the 50 freestyle at the Paralympics, meaning Santiago is about to face off against Australia’s Katja Dedekind, who like her, is the world record holder in her classification (26.56) and the two-time defending world champion.

They are the main two swimmers to watch, but the 2022 and 2023 Worlds silver medallists, Gia Pergolini and Carlotta Gilli are also in the field. So is Pergolini’s American teammate Olivia Chambers, who had an impressive international debut at 2023 Worlds, picking up bronze in the 50 free S13 along with her other accolades.

Men’s 100 Butterfly S12 (September 7)

The men’s 100 butterfly S12 has a deep field where there’s an argument to be made for multiple swimmers earning this year’s Paralympic title. In Tokyo, Azerbaijan’s Raman Salei took gold in 57.81, six-hundredths ahead of Great Britain’s Stephen Clegg, who set the world record (56.75) earlier that year. After a silver and two bronze medals in Tokyo, Clegg is looking for his first Paralympic gold in Paris.

Clegg got revenge at the 2022 World Championships, winning gold by 1.09 seconds over Salei. A year later, Brazil’s Douglas Matera got the better of them both, swimming an Americas record of 58.28 to beat Clegg by .13 seconds and Salei by .45 seconds.

All three will be in action in Paris, and while bronze medallist Roman Makarov is not in the field, Illia Yaremenko, who finished fourth at the 2020 Paralympics and third at the 2022 World Championships, is in the mix as well.

Women’s 50/100 Backstroke S2 (August 31/August 29)

Yes, technically this is two races. But we’re smuggling them in as one because when Singapore’s Yip Pin Xiu is in the water, they go hand in hand. In 2008, Yip won Singapore’s first Paralympic gold with a win in the 50 backstroke S3.

She’s only gotten better as she’s aged—a large storyline of the Olympic Games was Kaylee McKeown becoming the first female backstroker to sweep the 100/200 backstroke at consecutive Olympics. Now at her fifth Paralympics, Yip is trying to sweep the 50/100 backstroke S2 for the third-straight Games.

After winning the sprint backstrokes in Rio—where she set world records in both events that still stand—and Tokyo, Yip also dominated these events at the 2022 and 2023 World Championships.

Some of the events on this list are here because we’re expecting close races. Others, like these, are here because one swimmer’s dominance has put them in a position to write another chapter in Paralympic history.

Men’s 400 Freestyle S9 (August 29)

At the last two world championships, the podium has been the same. Italy’s Simone Barlaam (the IPC’s 2023 Best Male Summer Sports Athlete) has won gold, France’s Ugo Didier has earned silver, and world record holder Brenden Hall has taken bronze. All three line up again for this event in Paris, but will the outcome remain the same?

Hall set the world record at 4:09.93 11 years ago in Montreal. In 2022, Barlaam set a European record of 4:10.78 when he out-touched Didier by .38 seconds and likely has that long-standing mark on his mind. Barlaam won four medals in Tokyo, including gold in the 50 free S9, and has exploded in the years since, winning five golds at both the 2022 and 2023 World Championships.

At his best, Didier can contend with Barlaam, and he’ll have the power of a home nation crowd behind him in La Défense Arena, we saw how much the crowd played a role for the French swimmers at the Olympic Games. Didier is also in search of his first Paralympic gold medal on home soil as he vies with Barlaam and the decorated veteran Hall.

Those three are the favorites, but Hall’s teammate Timothy Hodge could make things interesting here, even though this is not his main event. Spain’s Jacobo Garrido Brun has been in the final at the last three major international events (2020 Paralympics, 2022 Worlds, 2023 Worlds) and could get involved in the action as well.