Cameron Leslie is preparing for his fourth Paralympic Games, but this time round he said he has a different motivation for success.
The Whangārei-born Paralympic swimmer said this will be the first games where his wife and kids will be watching and is the main reason for why he wants to compete.
“Doing them proud has driven my desire for the last four to five years. I’m looking forward to representing New Zealand in front of my kids and family,” said Leslie.
Leslie took home gold in the men’s 150m individual medley in 2008, 2012 and 2016 but it’s been eight years since he last competed at the Paralympics.
He was selected for the 2020 Tokyo Games but chose to withdraw due to the birth of his second child and not wanting something to go wrong with the baby while he was away.
The multiple Paralympic champion and world-record holder now has three children, all under the age of five and said it’s changed his approach to this year's Games.
“These Games for me are really important to show my disability to my kids but also show what dad can do because there’ll be a time when dad isn’t quite as cool for being disabled,” he told 1News.
Leslie's wife and kids will be travelling with him to his training camp in Spain before the Paris Games.
The 34-year-old also has a passion for wheelchair rugby and is a member of the Wheel Blacks team which narrowly missed out of qualifying for the Paris Games.
Leslie will lead a team of five Paralympic swimmers at the 2024 Games.
The Paralympian also works for Swimming New Zealand and helps develop para swimming talent around the country, he’s thrilled to see new para swimmers heading to Paris.
Leslie is joined by Paralympian Jesse Reynolds, who has competed at two Paralympics. Meanwhile Cantabrians Lili-Fox Mason and Gabriella Smith will make their Paralympic debuts in France alongside Aucklander Joshua Willmer.
Willmer claimed a gold medal in the SB8 100m Breaststroke in the Birmingham 2022 Commonwealth Games.
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