Toh Wei Soong comes in 9th in Paralympics 100m backstroke heats

Toh Wei Soong has come in ninth in the men's 100m backstroke S7 heat at the 2024 Paralympics.

The swimmer, who was Singapore's flag bearer during the opening ceremony, competed in the Paris La Defense Arena on Sep. 3 at 3:30pm (Singapore time).

Toh finished with a time of 1 minute and 16.24 seconds.

He was up against nine other swimmers, including Andrii Trusov from Ukraine, who holds the world and Paralympic records with times of 1:07.60 and 1:08.14 respectively.

The eight fastest swimmers qualified for the final.

As a reserve, Toh will only be able to enter the final if one of the top eight swimmers does not participate.

Decorated medalist

This is Toh's second Paralympics.

He first picked up swimming when he was six, as a form of therapy, after he was diagnosed with Transverse Myelitis at two.

It wasn't long before he grew to love being in water, where he could do things that he could not on land.

At 25, the swimmer has bagged an impressive collection of swimming medals.

All eyes were on him at the 2023 Asian Para Games in China, after he brought home three golds and one silver.

Previously that year, he had finished the ASEAN Para Games held in Cambodia on a high note as well, winning three golds and two silvers, and setting new tournament records and a new national record.

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A post shared by Toh Wei Soong 杜维崧 PLY (@tohweisoong)

Toh will next compete in the heats for the men's 50m freestyle S7 (Sep. 4) and the men's 50m butterfly S7 (Sep. 7).

Top images via tohweisoong/Instagram