Newfoundland swimmer set to make Canadian history with next Paralympic appearance

Paralympic champion Katarina Roxon will set records again when she competes in Paris later this month in the 2024 Paralympic Games.

Roxon, 31, will become the first Canadian woman to swim in five Paralympic competitions. Her resume stretches from her first in Beijing in 2008, through London, Rio, Tokyo and to the upcoming games in Paris.

“I don’t feel old, I don’t feel old at all. I’m enjoying it, I still feel very youthful,” she said near her home in Mount Pearl, N.L., on Monday.

“I never thought I would be at my fifth games, I never thought that it would even be an idea to go to my fifth games.”

Roxon says her father, Leonard Roxon, who is her main coach, has been urging the swimmer to take things one year at a time.

Now, almost 20 years after she first competed internationally at the age of 13, Roxon is looking for a comeback performance in Paris, after a somewhat disappointing experience with the Tokyo Paralympic cycle.

Roxon said she struggled with COVID-19-related restrictions and closures training for the Tokyo event, and never quite found a groove in solo events. That’s all behind her now.

“I feel great, I feel a lot more confident,” she said. “The competition is going to be what the competition is going to be. I’m just going to enjoy the experience.”

Roxon took home a bronze medal from Tokyo in a 4x100m freestyle relay team event. She won gold at the 2016 Paralympic Games in Rio in the 100m breaststroke event.

This year, Roxon has been named a captain for Canada’s Paralympic swimming team. She said being the youngest in her team in 2008 has given her a perspective on how she can best help out.

“Every single person on the team, like starting new, it can be a little isolating because everyone has their cliques. They’ve been on the team for so long,” she said.

“I’ve always tried to maintain the stance of making sure whoever is coming on the team, whoever’s new on the team, I try to embrace them and make sure they’re included and invited in and they feel welcome.”

Roxon leaves for France on Tuesday, ahead of a training camp with other athletes from the Canadian Paralympic team.

She’ll compete in the 100m backstroke on Aug. 30.

“It’s super exciting that I get to be the first to five. It’s such an honour. And I mean, you never know, maybe that can give a little boost to someone who wants to go to another games, right?”