Swimming: One-legged competitor makes history by reaching Games final
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Your support makes all the difference.Natalie Du Toit, an 18-year-old South African with one leg, made sporting history yesterday by qualifying for the final of a Commonwealth Games swimming competition in which all the other participants are able-bodied.
The teenager, who lost her left leg in a scooter accident in February last year, reached tonight's 800 metres freestyle race by clocking 9min 12.14sec, a time good enough to secure one of the eight places. In doing so she became the first person with a limb missing to reach a major championship final.
"It's the greatest thing mentally to make a final at the Commonwealth Games, to show that disabled people can compete and achieve," said Du Toit, who won a gold medal in the multi-disability 50m free-style on Wednesday. She is the only swimmer at the Games competing in the open and disabled events.
"I've qualified in eighth place. I just hope I can go faster tomorrow," she said. "I've always been a distance swimmer and that's how I see myself. I was more nervous in the 50m yesterday because I'd never swum disability before and I didn't know what to expect."
Du Toit had her left leg amputated at the knee after her accident, which happened when she was travelling to school from swimming training. Already an accomplished young athlete – she competed at the 1998 Commonwealth Games as a 14-year-old – she never considered letting her disability curtail her career.
"The first time I swam after the accident I kicked off and it felt like my leg was still there," she said, explaining how she has come to terms with the loss of her limb. "It wasn't, of course, but I got used to it. I have to accommodate for that. My stump floats, so it acts like a balance.
"As a person I haven't changed. People see me as a role model but I still think I'm the same person."
In her disability event on Wednesday, Du Toit clocked a world record 29.53sec in a heat. She won the final in 29.68sec. Today she will contest the multi-disability 100m free-style final before making history by appearing in the open 800m. "One will be a good warm-up for the other," she said last night. England's Rebecca Cooke is favourite to win the 800m event.
Before yesterday's race, Du Toit sat on the blocks until just before the starter called the competitors to their marks. As the others braced for the start, the South African stood with all her weight on the right leg, then dived on the starter's signal.
She was only one-tenth of a second slower off the start than Cooke and was in fourth place at the first turn. She slipped further behind the leaders as the heat continued but got a rousing cheer for her whole final length.
The phrase "remarkable Games swimmer" no longer brought to mind only the name of Ian Thorpe, Australia's teenage sensation.
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