Mexico gears up to host its first Para Swimming World Series

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Mexico is set to host the fifth and final Citi Para Swimming World Series event for the season, at Tijuana, Mexico. The event promises to be unique as it will include several debut participants, including individuals and nations, while also being Mexico’s first time hosting the event.

Mexico has the largest delegation with 158 participants and leading the pack is 30-year-old Jesus Hernandez Hernandez, who is an ex-Paralympic champion and multiple medals winner at the World Championships, who won 6 medals at the World Series event in Madeira in June, which included three golds, two silvers and a bronze. He also won gold at the Tokyo 2020 Paralympics.

Among nations with debut participants is Uruguay, where 12-year-old Hanna Arias of the S9 class, will be the youngest female athlete in the series. S5 participant, 14-year-old Leandro Piaggio is her teammate and set for her debut too.

Afghanistan will be participating for the first time and includes versatile para-athlete Mohammad NaiemDurani of the S9 class, who has also represented his nation in men’s javelin F42/44 at the Rio 2016 Paralympic Games. Other nations making a debut include Morocco and Nicaragua who will participate in S9 and S14 events, while Colombia, who have set their sights on the 2024 Paralympic Games in 2024, will be looking to make a splash with the second largest delegation of 17 swimmers.

The World Series event is also to set to return to Mexico in 2023 and 2024, as the Mexican Paralympic Committee has signed a multi-year contract with World Para Swimming.