KEVIN MCCALLUM: Paralympian’s 17 years of highs and lows
Hendrik van der Merwe, having qualified for the Games at his fourth try, feels like a weight has been lifted off his shoulders
As he walked around the Olympic Stadium during the Tokyo 2020 Paralympics opening ceremony held under a full moon on Tuesday night, Hendrik van der Merwe would have been forgiven had he taken a moment to stop, look around and have a moment for himself.
It has taken 17 years of trying for the man they call “Legs” to get to the Paralympics, a journey of highs and lows that has tested him and forced him into retirement from competitive swimming after he did not make the 2016 Games. He needed to make a living, he said, and he went into coaching, but he wanted one more shot at the sport he had taken up at school in 2004...
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