Men's 400M Freestyle - S9 | Final | Swimming | Tokyo 2020 Paralympic Games

the man who is the world record holder as well yeah brendan hall so he has the world record 409 but he hasn't really been close to that on an international level in several years and the other thing to know about this race is that these guys have not previously raced against each other at an international competition hugo didier relatively new to the international scene plus the new young australians i think that's key to mention the fact that covert 19 pandemic and recent reclassifications have prevented many of the swimmers from actually competing against one another at international competitions even as far back as the 2017 world championships many swimmers failed to make it because the world championships was postponed by a few months following the tragic earthquake that hit mexico in 2019 2017. hall bar alarm tuckfield martin garrido and rehorowitz brendan hall not getting a particularly fast start off the uh blocks but we are expecting to see the likes of will martin and alex tuckfield take an early lead the two australians but watch out for brendon hall he's smart enough to swim his own race without being drawn into little battles particularly early on in the competition but uh also hugo didier 19 years old but somebody who is one hundred percent uh we somebody we need to take uh take notice of he's caused that he's he's deserved it will martin he's out pretty quickly but as you said brendan hall is the most experienced 400 meter freestyle in this heat right now so you see there's three australians there's alexander tuckfield who had a pb this morning by 1.8 seconds he had a phenomenal swim will martin is actually a better butterflyer than he is a freestyler although you wouldn't know by looking at him right now simone barlum a sprinter but he's hanging in there simone barlum just needs to be able to hang with the rest of this heat in order to get on the metal stand and then brendan hall is probably going to hang back a bit but he's going to be very controlled with his experience he knows how to swim this race and so he just has to make sure that he keeps everyone within striking distance because he's a single leg amputee he won't have the kick to bring it home so he needs to establish himself and make sure that he doesn't let others get too far ahead of him so brendan hall is certainly somebody who's who's going to have the favorites tag attached to him just based on his achievements previously but will martin is looking really good through the 150 and continuing to lead as uh this event sees at least five swimmers still very much in contention for the gold medal while herowitz of poland going in lane eight was the first to drop off the pace it is a little surprising to see the 2017 world champion federico murala just lagging behind significantly down on the field already as we approach the 200 mark i'm here at the 200 going into the turn you see didier and wilmart and wilmarton has the better kick coming off he used a fly kick to really extend his lead over didier didier has weakness in his legs so the turns are going to be hard for him with a very even stroke and he seems to extend it brendan hall hanging back in there he's sort of you see he's fighting off simona barlum just for that fourth place position alexander tuckfield as the youngster here he needs to make sure he doesn't get too excited but he also needs to not let will martin and ddr get too far ahead of him if he wants to get on the stand well it does seem as if somebody's had a word in his ear and thought look you've uh you absolutely went out almost cowboy style in the in the morning and he is a little more reserved and composed in the pool right now but so far the three australians are not far off one another effectively a body length separating the uh the three australians i don't necessarily see it on the on the diagonal but more of the sprinter he is lagging a little behind now and the only swimmer who is not from australia he's putting himself into metal contention here generally genuinely is uh french swimmer and here in the last 100 you see will martin he turned on the kick he's going to try and extend his lead hugo de gea has a faster stroke alexander tuckfield does appear to be sort of fading a little bit and he's going to be fighting off brendan hall for the bronze medal position well brendan hall what does experience bring him in this race bar alarm is certainly out of it now three australians and a frenchman contesting for the three medals in this and brendan hall the two-time defending champion the world record holder finds himself off the pace now he's looking physically in the best shape of his life is uh is brendan hall but i wonder if he's got something in the last 50 at the moment it is a remarkable swim from will martin who led from the very start and he's just ahead of world record pace as well is will martin going to hold on and cause somewhat of a surprise coming in from lane six the 20 year old australian looking to claim his first ever medal it's going to be gold and just outside world record time paralympic record 4 10 25 touches ahead of francis hugo didier who takes the silver and in bronze medal position alexander tuckfield the 4 13 54 as hall misses out on the medals of the on paper favorite but what a swim from the 20 year old a man who is expected to do something in the years ahead how he has come onto the scene here what a way to win your first medal smash the paralympic record claim a gold there are some some interesting reactions and ugo didier delighted with his medal no doubt but will martin what a race tuckfield bronze medalist absolutely nothing wrong with his race a little more measured in the way he went out and maybe expended a little too much energy in going out so quickly in his preliminaries bear in mind in paris swimming you swim the heats or preliminaries for your race on the same day that you swim the final and this is a testing and punishing event there's will martin he goes out fast look at his underwater he is clearly the best underwater swimmer of anyone in this field he uses his legs to extend the lead a very even stroke his underwater should be good because he is a butterfly or by trade so every time he comes in he's able to extend here he is coming into the wall very smooth he just had a phenomenal swim 4 10 that's an excellent time for him coming into the wall right now you see didier trying to come on strong at the very end he really he sprinted that last 50 the best he could but he could not catch will martin coming off of those walls will martin that was a sensational swim from the uh the youthful australian a man who's already proved that he can be a that's uh rather than uh martin a silver medalist but what a swim from will martin he's a cricket fan is will martin like many australians and you would say that he's smashed this race for six he has taken gold quite remarkably in the mains 400 meter freestyle s9 will martyred ahead of didier france with alexander tuckfield claiming the bronze ahead of two-time defending champion brynden hall