Suzanna Hext

At the Tokyo 2020 Paralympics Games, Hext finished just off the podium in fourth place in both the 100m and 200m S5 freestyle finals.

After spending five days in hospital battling an infection before the 2023 World Championships in Manchester, Hext recovered to become a world champion for the first time in the S5 50m freestyle before adding silver in the 100m event.

Hext burst on to the scene of British Para-Swimming in 2019, claiming a pair of silver and bronze medals at her debut World Para Swimming Championships in London.

She has further pedigree in another sport as a triple European Para-dressage gold medallist and made a late switch to the pool.

The Cirencester athlete only turned her attention to swimming in 2017 and did not compete in her first long-course competition until the 2019 BUCS Swimming Championships in Sheffield.

Later that year, she further outlined her Freestyle quality by winning silver in the same event at the Worlds, as well as a bronze in the S5 100m Freestyle final, as she enjoyed a memorable debut at that level of competition before being selected for Tokyo.

Suzanna is profoundly deaf with bilateral cochlear implants and has an assistance dog called Kimmy.