Silver medal for Paralympian Col Pearse

Sep 9, 2024

Bamawm Extension’s Col Pearse (left) congratulates fellow Australian Alex Saffy on claiming bronze in the men’s butterfly S10 100m final on Wednesday. Col finished fourth in that race, but won silver on the weekend. Photo: AAP/Delly Carr

Col Pearse has ended his Paralympic campaign in the Paris pool with a silver medal and a fourth place.

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Col, from a dairy farm at Bamawm Extension near Echuca, won his silver on Sunday morning (AEST) in the S10 men’s 200m individual medley in a tight finish behind reigning Italian world champion Stefano Raimondi.

Col now has silver and bronze Paralympic medals.

Last Wednesday it had been a case of so close but so far for Col in the 100m S10 butterfly final, when he had been hoping to improve on the bronze medal he earned in Tokyo.

But he was beaten into fourth place behind fellow Australian Alex Saffy, who took the bronze.

The race was won by Italian Stefano Raimondi, with Ukrainian Ihor Nimchenko picking up silver.

Col gained Australia-wide fame when he featured in TV advertising and an extended promotional video for Woolworths during the Paris Olympic and Paralympic Games.

The film is inspired by Col’s true story, whose family and local community helped him create a training pool in the dam on their family dairy farm to train during COVID-19.

The video features Col, his family and members of the Echuca community.