Golden glory in the Paralympics
Image courtesy of the Australian Paralympic Committee.
Standing on the podium to receive a gold medal at the 2012 Paralympic Games, first-year Bachelor of Arts (Pathway to Teaching Secondary) student Michael Auprince achieved one of his highest goals. Michael travelled to London as part of the Australian swimming team and succeeded in winning gold in the 4x100m freestyle relay and bronze in the 4x100m medley relay.
Michael’s journey to the London Paralympics began at the April trials, where the top five swimmers from around the world earned themselves a place on the team. “The trials were very stressful because if you didn’t swim well there, you weren’t going to go,” Michael explains.
Michael is no stranger to hard work. When training for the Paralympics, he swam up to nine sessions in the pool on top of completing four gym sessions every week. While training had a big impact on his social life, he didn’t want it to affect his university studies and decided to defer this semester.
When asked if he thought Australia would win the gold medal in the 4x100m final, Michael replied, “If you have a lane in the final you have a chance at winning.”
During the gold-medal final, Michael was completely focused. “Because I was going in second I was just trying to work out when I would have to touch and was setting myself up for the whole hundred metres,” he explains. “When you’re flat-out sprinting the whole way, it’s hard. I was trying not to let the pain get to me and make sure the guy swimming after me had a good touch, too.”
In the 4x100m medley relay, Michael swam backstroke. “I swam the lead-off leg and tried to go out as hard as I could and hold it so that the guy behind me could tell when he could go,” explains Michael.
With plans to become an English teacher once he’s finished his studies at UWS, Michael also plays wheelchair basketball at state level and is hoping to eventually compete at the Paralympics in this sport in the future.
For now, he has his sights firmly set on the Rio Paralympics in 2016.
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