Family driving Australia's flag bearer as he embarks on record-equalling fifth Paralympic Games
By Michael Jones
Main image: Delly Carr/Swimming Australia
What drives a four-time Paralympian and multiple gold medallist to continue to push his body to its limits when he’s already achieved almost everything there is to achieve in swimming?
More records? No. Redemption? Possibly.
For UQ alum Brenden Hall OAM (Bachelor of Exercise and Sports Sciences ’17), it’s about creating a positive impact and lasting memories for his new family.
Hall, alongside track-and-field star Madison de Rozario, has been selected to carry Australia’s flag at the opening ceremony of the Paris 2024 Paralympic Games on August 28.
Australia's Paralympic flag bearers Brenden Hall and Madison de Rozario. Image: Brendon Thorne/Getty Images
It’s an unexpected honour for Hall, who will make a record-equalling fifth Paralympics appearance in Paris after missing out on a medal in Tokyo.
“Redemption might have played a small part in my motivation to compete in Paris, but my perspective on a lot of things in life has changed since Tokyo – and for the better,” the 2015 UQ Sportsman of the Year said.
“My wife Brittany and I started a family at the end of 2021, so I have a 2-and-a-half-year-old son now, and another baby due in November. I quickly realised that swimming and winning medals aren’t the only important things in life.
“Now it’s a matter of showing my little one that this is the world that his dad's been living in for most of his life.
“I want to introduce him to that world and show him what I've been doing, so hopefully – when he's older – he remembers and can help spread the word of the importance of the Paralympic movement and what it means to me and to a lot of people.”
Hall made his Paralympic debut in Beijing in 2008 at just 15 years of age. Four years later he was a multiple Paralympic gold medallist, winning the S9 400 metres freestyle and 4x100 metres freestyle relay in London.
He defended his S9 400 metres crown at Rio in 2016 and, at 31 years of age, he will look to add to his impressive medal haul in Paris in the S9 400 metres, 800 metres and 1500 metres freestyle with his family in the stands cheering him on.
“I’m even more excited this time around,” Hall said.
“I’m still coming to terms with the honour of carrying the flag at the opening ceremony. There’s a lot of prestige and I join a list of very few athletes to have done it.
“I’d never truly grasped the kind of impact I’ve had on the sport, so I’m very humbled and I just want to do everyone proud.”
Australia's Paralympic flag bearers Brenden Hall and Madison de Rozario. Image: Brendon Thorne/Getty Images
Australia's Paralympic flag bearers Brenden Hall and Madison de Rozario. Image: Brendon Thorne/Getty Images
UQ Swim Club star ready to lap up Paralympic opportunity
Jack Ireland knows how much it hurts to miss out on Paralympic selection. After failing to qualify for Tokyo in 2021, Ireland has since used that disappointment as motivation and will make his Paralympic debut in Paris, where he will line up in the S14 200m freestyle.
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