Col Pearse grew up at a tiny Victorian locality called Bamawm Extension where the ratio of cows to people is 500:1.

At the age of 2 he lost his right foot in a lawn mower accident. This, he says. never really impacted his life and he went on to lead a normal, hyper-active childhood playing any and all sports with his mates from town.

At the age of 12 he met Paralympian Ellie Cole and after handling her gold medal, he decided that was the path for him. And set his sights on the Olympic Games.

This is his second Paralympics and he'll represent Australia in the S10 classification for the 200 Individual Medley and 100 butterfly events.