Sascha Kindred: 11 gold, 13 Medals, 6 Games & Done With Paralympic Battles at 38

Sascha Kindred, with an 11th gold and 13th medal at his sixth Paralympics, led a Great Britain wave of three golds – with Ellie Simmonds and Susie Rogers, on day 5 of action in the pool at the Paralympics in Rio.

13. Unlucky for some – and it nearly proved that was for Kindred, 38 and from from Hereford: he was disqualified in the morning heats of the won the SM6 200m medley, an event he first won at the Sydney 2000 Paralympics.

13. Lucky for some – and so it proved for Kindred, who was reinstated after an appeal and went on to claim the crown once more, this time in world-record time. A judge said that he had kicked with alternate legs on butterfly. British Swimming used footage of the race to show the discrepancy was due to Kindred’s cerebral palsy and there was no propulsive benefit. Such a move would not be possible in elite swimming, FINA (which does not included disability sport in its stable of disciplines) having rejected the use of video evidence at appeal stage.

Kindred also won the medley title in Athens in 2004 and Beijing in 2008 but a home Games in London four years ago produced the “bitter disappointment” of silver.

The Rio race marked his last Paralympic battle. Kindred told reporter Matt McGeehan: “Thirteen is my lucky number. I was born on the 13th (of December, 1978), my mum was born on the 13th as well. And seven’s a special number for me as well. I’m a big (Manchester) United fan, a lot of famous number sevens. Seven is special. I’m 38 years old. To be able to achieve that, the hard work has paid off.”

Why the end?

“It’s my last Paralympic race. I may do worlds next year, but not Tokyo (2020). I’ve got problems with my back and need to have an operation. I don’t think my body can cope training for four years again. I’m not Steve Redgrave – I won’t say ‘kill me if you see me in the pool’ – but 99 per cent sure I won’t be in Tokyo.”

Kindred, whose career includes a mountain of British and European honours, noted the long haul when he said: “Swimming can be a very lonely sport, early mornings, counting tiles at the bottom of a pool. But the dedication and the commitment of myself and the team around me have put in… this is what the hard work is for. I knew I had a performance in me. It was just a case of putting it all together.”

Kindred paid tribute to his long-time coach Emma Patrick and the British Swimming support staff. He has been a cornerstone of the Britain team for 20 years, having made his Paralympic debut in 1996. He said:

“In Atlanta there were 2,000 athletes and about seven people in the crowd. To London – amazing. To this – loads of negativity about this. Rio has been so good and it’s been a party atmosphere. The noise when he came out before me – I tried to have that noise for myself and say ‘that’s for me’.”

Kindred was uncertain if five-year-old daughter Ella had stayed up until approaching midnight in the UK to watch dad swim, especially on a school night.

But he was looking forward to returning home to see Ella and wife Nyree – a Paralympic champion in Athens – and … to have a beefburger.

“We’ve got an independent chain called Beefy Boys,” he said. “They’ve got a world championship-winning burger. The biggest one you get is a triple patty. It’s pretty big. I don’t think I can handle that.”

Ellie Simmonds – pioneering pace

Ellie Simmonds, courtesy of British Swimming

Soon after that, teammate Ellie Simmonds delivered gold in the SM6 200m medley. Now is a five-time Paralympic champion, Simmonds is 21; she was 13 at …

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