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| Personal information | ||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Nationality | Belgian | |||||||||||
| Born | 26 August 2003 | |||||||||||
| Sport | ||||||||||||
| Sport | Swimming | |||||||||||
| Coach | Greg Planckaert | |||||||||||
Medal record
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Sam de Visser (born 26 August 2003) is a Belgian Paralympic swimmer. [1] He competes in classification S9 (S9, SB8 and SM9). [2]
|
| Personal information | ||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Nationality | Belgian | |||||||||||
| Born | 26 August 2003 | |||||||||||
| Sport | ||||||||||||
| Sport | Swimming | |||||||||||
| Coach | Greg Planckaert | |||||||||||
Medal record
| ||||||||||||
Sam de Visser (born 26 August 2003) is a Belgian Paralympic swimmer. [1] He competes in classification S9 (S9, SB8 and SM9). [2]
de Visser was born with just 4 fingers on his right hand and a not fully developed right leg that was amputated below the knee after birth. [3] He received his first prosthetic leg age 4 and tried out different sports after that: he played football at a very young age and his parents forced him to take swimming lessons when he was 6 as they found it important that he would be able "to save himself". [4] Age 8, he switched to swimming only as he was restricted in his football club to attending training sessions only and was not allowed to partake in competition football with his prosthetic leg. [2]
de Visser has an older and a younger brother, lives in Lommel, Belgium and trains in Bruges, Belgium. [4]
de Visser studies Business Management at the Howest University of Applied Sciences in Bruges, Belgium. [1]
de Visser's first international championships were the 2020 World Para Swimming European Open Championships in Funchal, Madeira, Portugal. [5]
de Visser's first world championships were the 2022 World Para Swimming Championships in Madeira, Portugal where he finished 6th in both the men's 100 metres backstroke S9 and 400 m metres Freestyle S9. [6]
A year later, he came close to winning his first international championship medal at the 2023 World Para Swimming Championships in Manchester, UK finishing 4th in the men's 400 metre freestyle S9. [7]
In April 2024 he did win that first international championship medal, a bronze medal at the 2024 World Para Swimming European Open Championships in Funchal, Madeira in his favorite discipline, the 400 metres freestyle. [8]
Later that year, he participated in the 2024 Summer Paralympics in Paris, France. [1] He finished 2nd in his heat of the 400 metres freestyle S9 [9] and qualified for the final in which he finished 6th. [10]
In 2019 de Visser was winner of the ENGIE Talent of the Year award. [11] The award was handed out to him by Her Royal Highness Princess Astrid during a special and prestigious edition of the Belgian Paralympic Sports Awards celebrating the 60th birthday of the Paralympic movement in Belgium. [12]
Ellie Victoria Cole, is an Australian retired Paralympic swimmer and wheelchair basketball player. After having her leg amputated due to cancer, she trained in swimming as part of her rehabilitation program and progressed more rapidly than instructors had predicted. She began competitive swimming in 2003 and first competed internationally at the 2006 IPC Swimming World Championships, where she won a silver medal. Since then, she has won medals in the Pan Pacific Swimming Championships, the Commonwealth Games, the Paralympic Games, the IPC Swimming World Championships, and various national championships.
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Tully Alicia Jacqueline Kearney is a British Paralympic swimmer. Kearney currently competes in the S5/SB4/SM5 classification for swimmers with physical disabilities. She won gold and silver at the Tokyo 2020 Paralympic Games and followed this up at the Paris 2024 Games with two further gold medals, including retaining her 100 m freestyle S5 title. Since first competing at the World Para Swimming Championships in 2013 she has won thirteen World Championship medals, ten of which are gold. Kearney is a multiple British, European and World record holder.
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Dimosthenis 'Dimos' Michalentzakis is a Greek Paralympic swimmer who competes in S9 and S8 classification events. He won Paralympic gold in the 100m butterfly S9 at 2016 Summer Paralympics in Rio de Janeiro and Paralympic bronze in the 100m freestyle S8 at 2020 Summer Paralympics in Tokyo. He was born in Alexandroupoli in 19/10/1998 and he has origin from Feres. He holds the world record in 200 meters freestyle in his category with a performance of 2:07:16. The Municipal Swimming Pool of Alexandroupoli has his name.
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Sam de Visser at Paralympic.org
