Hodge Hunting for Gold in Paris

Tim Hodge, who opens his Paris 2024 Paralympic campaign on Friday in the 400m S9 freestyle event, has achieved so much more than he thought would be possible after losing his right foot in 2005.

The 23-year-old, who broke his own 200m individual medley world record during the Paris swimming trials in June, and who is a three-time Para swimming world champion, and triple Paralympic silver medallist, revealed the sense of hopelessness he experienced as a four-year-old after his right foot was amputated.

“My right ankle was unstable, and my right leg would grow at a different rate to my left because of the bend in my [tibia] bone,” said Hodge, who aims to win his first Paralympic gold medal in Paris.

“Doctors said the best option was amputation, as that would allow me to get a prosthesis that would fit my leg because, as I grew older, my right ankle might become more unstable and I might not be able to walk on it, and it wouldn’t be as long as my left leg – so, that would be another issue.”

However, Hodge woke after the operation feeling despondent, even though the surgeon described it to him and his parents as a “success”.

“I said to my parents after the operation that I thought I would never be good at anything now because I was missing my right foot. And my mum said to me ‘don’t say that, we’ll find something that you can do that will put you in a whole range of sports – everything we can think of, and we’ll find something you’re good at. You never know until you try.’

“And [my parents] kept their word and put me in a whole range of different sports. At one point I was doing a different sport every day of the week.”

While he played soccer, cricket, Tee Ball and even did karate, Hodge developed a passion for swimming when he was nine years old.

“I really, really enjoyed competing and I made it through to the school State Championships where I was knocked out of the competition,” he said. “I wasn’t quite fast enough, and I remember thinking I wanted to come back next year and go even faster.

“I was a bit behind the pack with being an amputee compared to able bodied people. I thought about that and thought I don’t want to be behind the pack, I want to work twice as hard, three times as hard, so that I can be up with them – or maybe even in front of them.

“And that really drove me to be better and become the best athlete I could.”

Hodge credited swimming for helping to prepare him for life’s challenges.

“I’ve found a huge amount of determination that I probably would never have found if I was never in a race situation,” he said.

“Things like that . . . at the end of a race . . . when you’re hurting and your arms are heavy and you’re struggling for air, to be able to still finish that race as fast as possible as hard as possible, it has shown me the sort of strength I can find when I’m in tough situations. It has helped me understand myself more and understand my limitations more.

NSWIS