After receiving a phone call from Kyle Chalmers in Las Vegas, Paralympian Ben Hance blitzed the field to seal an emotional gold medal after his father’s death.
A phone call from Olympian Kyle Chalmers and coach Ash Delaney in Las Vegas helped motivate Ben Hance to back-to-back Paralympic medals on Friday evening just six months after the unexpected death of his father in the “worst year” of the young swimmer’s life.
Hance was a pallbearer during an emotional funeral in March, just three months before Australia’s Paralympic swimming trials in Brisbane. Hance’s father had purchased a ticket to be in Paris at the Paralympics to watch his son but did not make it. The Victorian swimmer’s sister, auntie and cousins were in the stands at the La Defense Arena showing their support to one of the Paralympic team’s most talented athletes.“He was supposed to be in the stands,” Hance said. “It’s super special . I just enjoyed the work . Best 10 weeks of training in my life. Enjoyed every minute of it.
Delaney and Chalmers aren’t in Paris – they’re in Las Vegas on a holiday to watch the UFC – but made sure they gave Hance some words of wisdom before his big final. “Especially for young swimmers, that initial financial hurdle of being able to supply a suit or to find a club that is willing to coach is something that I think we really need to change if we want to incentivise participation in para-sport,” Hodge said.
“They might see someone on the TV missing a leg or an arm or any other number of conditions, and they go, ‘well, they can do that. Why can’t I?’.“Whereas watching the Olympics, I can go, ‘yes, Australia is the greatest, but I can’t see myself doing that’. I think the Australian public relates more with the Paralympics.
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