Day 6 Wrap - Paris 2024 Paralympic Games
The sixth day of swimming at the Paris La Defense Arena saw three Kiwis in action, with Jesse Reynolds (Hamilton Aquatics & RPC Waikato) and Cameron Leslie (Whangarei) both making finals. It was a special day for the New Zealand team in Paris, with Lili-Fox Mason (Wharenui) making her Paralympic debut.
Jesse Reynolds made his presence felt in his only event in Paris. Racing at his third Paralympic Games in his favoured men’s 100m backstroke S9, Reynolds executed a clinical heats swim to finish third and qualify for the final with the fifth fastest time (1:04.53). He looked strong throughout, turning fourth before moving ahead to swim the second fastest time of his career.
In the final, Reynolds swam from lane two, flanked by the World Record holder Simone Barlaam (Italy) and reigning Commonwealth Games gold medalist Timothy Hodge (Australia). It was a fast final, with the field getting away to a rapid start. Reynolds surfaced quickly and immediately had some work to do with his competitors capitalizing on their underwater skills. Barlaam was off to a flyer, but was just beaten to the turn by Yahor Shchalkanau. Shchalkanau executed a brilliant underwater and didn’t look back, as he stormed away to the gold medal in a Paralympic Record (1:00.76). The home French crowd erupted as local favourite Ugo Didier (France – 1:01.48) moved into second place over the final lap, while Bogdan Maogovoi (1:01.93) rounded out the podium for bronze. Reynolds (1:04.89) swam a strong race to maintain his seventh place at the turn into the finish, notching the sixth fastest time of his career to be just outside his time from the heat and place seventh in the world.
Cameron Leslie was really proud of his teammate's performance in the final.
"Jesse was gutsy. He's a true professional and works so hard. Pretty special for him to be racing against a Frenchman too with the crowd always getting well and truly behind the locals."
Congratulations to Jesse Reynolds, coach Mat Woofe and his support team on his performance at his third Games in Paris. Reynolds will now join Josh Willmer (Pukekohe) as part of the cheer squad supporting the rest of their New Zealand teammates in the final days of competition.
Cameron Leslie returned to the competition pool for his second event of these Games. The longest event available for an S4 swimmer, Leslie qualified through to the final as eighth fastest with a controlled morning heat swim in the men’s 200m freestyle S4. Leslie was well positioned in his heat, holding down third place consistently over the first three laps of the race. Ami Omer Dadaon (Israel – 2:52.30) cleared away from the field to win the heat, with Roman Zhdanov (3:04.80) finishing strongly to be second on the wall ahead of Takayuki Suzuki (Japan – 3:05.23) and Leslie (3:06.18) in fourth. It saw him safely into the final, more than six seconds ahead of ninth overall.
In his second final of as many events in Paris, Leslie found his rhythm from the start. World Record holder Dadaon and Sebastian Massabie (Canada) led the field out over the opening lap, before Dadaon put his head down during the second lap to establish an unassailable lead by halfway. Federico Cristiani (Italy) moved into the second position at the 100m, with the ever-consistent Takayuki Suzuki in third. Leslie was seventh over the opening lap before dropping into eighth by halfway. The pace continued at the front, with Dadaon (2:49.26) continuing on his way as the reigning Paralympic Champion added another gold medal to his collection. Roman Zhdanov (2:53.01) replicated his excellent back-half pace to win the silver, upgrading from the bronze he won in Tokyo, overtaking Takayuki Suzuki (2:55.17) the latter stages of the race. It was the same three swimmers who topped the podium in Tokyo, with the silver and bronze positions switching this time around in Paris. Leslie worked his way through the second half of his swim with the field pulling away, with the increased depth in the event demonstrated by the top six all swimming under three minutes. Leslie claimed eighth place in a time just outside that of his heat swim (3:06.84).
Leslie felt a bit disappointed with the way the race played out.
"Bit gutted in all honesty. I wanted more but couldn't find it today. It blows my mind to think a year ago I won bronze at World Champs with a time one second faster, but now six of the eight finalists went 2:59 or faster. The 200m isn't a race I was targeting, but I was still after a quicker time."
Nevertheless, congratulations to Cameron Leslie, coach Tom Onley and his support team for reaching another final in Paris. Leslie will now turn his attention to his preferred sprint distances.
"Can't wait for the 50m events! Much more where my targets lie and passion is."
Leslie's next race is the men’s 50m freestyle S4 on Friday 6 September.
Lili-Fox Mason (Wharenui) made her Paralympic debut in the women’s 100m butterfly S10. The Christchurch-based swimmer found herself in the second heat, and was up and into her stroke quickly from the start from lane one. Great Britain teammates Faye Rogers (1:05.92) and Callie-Ann Warrington (1:07.23) were dominant in the heat as they went through fastest for the final, with reigning Paralympic silver medallist Jasmine Greenwood (Australia – 1:08.52) third on the wall. Mason (1:12.44) was in the faster heat and it spurred her along to the third fastest time of her career, just 0.04 seconds outside her personal best. Mason finished strongly to touch seventh, coming 13th overall on her first appearance in Paris.
Cameron Leslie was super impressed with Mason's Paralympic debut.
“It was a special day in the pool for Lili-Fox, 0.04 seconds off her personal best and making her debut. Really proud of how she swam today. There's definitely more to come from her in the butterfly in the future, but for now it'll be awesome to support her and Gaby in the 400m.”
Congratulations to Lili-Fox Mason, her coach Matt Houston and her support team for representing New Zealand proudly and leaving it all in the pool upon Paralympic debut. Mason will return to the pool on Thursday 5 September for the women’s 400m freestyle S10 alongside teammate Gaby Smith (Vikings).
We don't have any Kiwis in action tomorrow on day seven, with Thursday (day eight) the next time our swimmers take to the competition pool.
Day eight will see Lili-Fox Mason (Wharenui) and Gaby Smith (Vikings) in the women's 400m freestyle S10. Tupou Neiufi (Pukekohe) will return to action in the women's 50m freestyle S8.
Heats will be held each NZ evening from 7.30pm NZST and finals from 3.30am NZST the following morning.
Make sure you are following Swimming NZ on our social media channels to stay up-to-date with the latest action from Paris.
You can watch the coverage on TVNZ, who are providing the most extensive coverage in New Zealand history at the Paris 2024 Paralympic Games.
Check out our preview of our Kiwis in action each day below.
Daily Previews
*start times are subject to change, and finals are subject to athlete progression.
Day Eight
Heats (from 7.30pm NZST – Thursday 5 September)
Women’s 400m Freestyle S10 (Mason & Smith)
Women’s 50m Freestyle S8 (Neiufi)
Potential Finals Swims (from 3.30am NZST – Friday 6 September)
Women’s 400m Freestyle S10 (Mason* & Smith* – 3.50am)
Women’s 50m Freestyle S8 (Neiufi* – 5.50am)
Christchurch girls Lili-Fox Mason and Gaby Smith will both be suiting up for the women’s 400m freestyle S10, the only event where New Zealand has more than one swimmer. Smith and Mason enter the event as the 11th and 12th fastest respectively.
Tupou Neiufi is the other Kiwi in action on day eight, taking on the women’s 50m freestyle S8. Coming in as the tenth fastest, Neiufi will be looking to produce strong performance to progress through to the final.
Day Nine
Heats (from 7.30pm NZST – Friday 6 September)
Men’s 50m Freestyle S4 (Leslie)
Potential Finals Swims (from 3.30am NZST – Saturday 7 September)
Men’s 50m Freestyle S4 (Leslie* – 5.36am)
Cameron Leslie is the only Kiwi racing on day nine in Paris, taking on the men’s 50m freestyle S4. As the silver medallist in this event at the past two Para Swimming World Championships, the former world record holder will be looking to produce his best at the Paris La Defense Arena where he enters as the third fastest seed.
Day Ten
Heats (from 7.30pm NZST – Saturday 7 September)
Women’s 200m Individual Medley SM10 (Smith)
Men’s 50m Backstroke S4 (Leslie)
Potential Finals Swims (from 3.30am NZST – Sunday 8 September)
Women’s 200m Individual Medley SM10 (Smith* – 3.37am)
Men’s 50m Backstroke S4 (Leslie* – 4.54am)
Gaby Smith will round out her debut Paralympic Games on the final day of competition, taking on her third event — the women’s 200m individual medley SM10. She is seeded as the 12th fastest coming into the Games.
Cameron Leslie has his best event on the final day, where he will take on the men’s 50m backstroke S4. Coming into the event as the reigning World Champion, Leslie has the third fastest entry time.
Swimmer Entries
Cameron Leslie
Men’s 50m Freestyle S4 (Entry time: 37.22)
Men’s 100m Freestyle S4 - Seventh (1:24.03)
Men’s 200m Freestyle S4 - Eighth (3:06.84)
Men’s 50m Backstroke S4 (Entry time: 42.64)
Lili-Fox Mason
Women’s 400m Freestyle S10 (Entry time: 4:59.47)
Women’s 100m Butterfly S10 - Thirteenth (1:12.44)
Tupou Neiufi
Women’s 50m Freestyle S8 (Entry time: 32.77)
Women’s 100m Backstroke S8 - Ninth (1:23.49)
Jesse Reynolds
Men’s 100m Backstroke S9 - Seventh (1:04.89)
Gaby Smith
Women’s 400m Freestyle S10 (Entry time: 4:56.54)
Women’s 100m Breaststroke SB9 - Seventh (1:20.72)
Women’s 200m Individual Medley SM10 (Entry time: 2:39.68)
Josh Willmer
Men’s 100m Breaststroke SB8 - Ninth (1:12.73 - SB8 NZ Record)
New Zealand Swimming Team
Name | Club/Organisation | Role |
Cameron Leslie | Whangārei | Swimmer |
Lili-Fox Mason | Wharenui | Swimmer |
Tupou Neiufi | Pukekohe | Swimmer |
Jesse Reynolds | Hamilton Aquatics & RPC Waikato | Swimmer |
Gaby Smith | Vikings | Swimmer |
Josh Willmer | Pukekohe | Swimmer |
Simon Mayne | Swimming NZ | Head Coach |
Tom Onley | Whangārei | Coach |
Amanda White | Swimming NZ | Team Manager & Chaperone |
Graeme White | Support Staff |
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