The French respectively won silver and bronze in the 200m medley at the Défense Arena.
In a highly charged atmosphere at the swimming pool of the Defense Arena, the two Frenchmen Ugo Didier and Hector Denayer finished behind the Australian Timothy Hodge who set a new Paralympic record in 2’13”31. Ugo Didier, 22, born with a malformation of the legs, covered the distance in 2’15”98, while Hector Denayer, 19, suffering from agenesis of the left hand, finished a few seconds later, completing the podium (2’17”34).
The swimmers competed in a high-energy atmosphere, particularly in the breaststroke, with the crowd cheering on the French with every breath they took. This is Ugo Didier’s third medal and Hector Denayer’s second at these Paralympic Games, which are being held in Paris until September 8. Ugo Didier won the 400m freestyle title in the S9 category on the first day of the Paralympic Games, thus opening France’s gold medal tally. He then also won silver in the 100m backstroke in the S9 category.
The 12th and 13th French medals in para-swimming
For his part, Hector Denayer won silver in the 100m breaststroke, also in the S9 category. Both swimmers were among the favourites for a medal as part of an ambitious French para-swimming team. They competed in the SM9 and S9 categories reserved for people with a physical disability.
In this category, races can pit swimmers with very different disabilities against each other, but for whom it is accepted that the performance capacity in the stroke in question is comparable. The lower the number, the greater the functional loss. Swimming was one of the disciplines that provided the most medals during these Games. French para-swimmers have won a total of 13 awards so far.
