Just days after winning, for a record-breaking third time, the Laureus award for sportsperson of the year with a disability, Brazilian swimmer Daniel Dias will be competing in the brand-new Olympic Aquatics Stadium in Rio. It is in this pool, in less than five months' time, that Dias will be trying to add to his haul of 15 Paralympic medals, which includes four golds from Beijing 2008 and six golds from London 2012.  

He will be among the stand-out swimmers at the Rio 2016 test event, which runs from Friday to Sunday (22-24 April), in Barra Olympic Park.

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Born in 1988 with congenital malformation of his arms and right leg, Dias was inspired to take up swimming after seeing fellow Brazilian Clodoaldo Silva at the Athens 2004 Paralympic Games. Last year, at the Toronto 2015 Parapan American Games, Dias was the most decorated athlete with eight gold medals from all events. He also won seven golds at the IPC Swimming World Championships in Glasgow.

“It was an incredible year for me, crowned by the Laureus award”

Daniel Dias on 2015
 

In the test event in Rio, Dias will compete in the 50m butterfly and 50m freestyle in the S5 class and 100m breaststroke in the SB4 class. In the Paralympic Games in September, the swimmer will race in a total of six individual events and will also play a key part in team relays.

Seven-time gold medallist André Brasil will be competing in five disciplines in the test event, all in the S10 class: 50m, 100m and 400m freestyle, 100m backstroke and 100m butterfly. At Toronto 2015, Brasil left with six gold medals to become the second most decorated athlete, behind team-mate Dias. 

Swimmers participating in this week's competition say the event is an ideal opportunity to get used to the venue that will be use for the Paralympic Games in September.  

Leading Paralympic athletes from outside Brazil who have come to Rio include Darya Stukalova of Russia, Roy Perkins from the USA (a rival to Dias) and Élodie Lorandi from France. Also here is Spain's Maria Teresa Perales, who in the Rio 2016 Paralympic Games will be aiming to retain her 100m freestyle title for the fourth consecutive Games.

Alexandre Garrafa, head of Paralympic swimming for Rio 2016, says organisers will focus in particular on the medal presentations. There will be 152 medal ceremonies in the Paralympic Games, for athletes with a very wide range of impairments, so ensuring accessibility for all is critical. Organisers will also be testing other key areas such as the results service and electricity supply at the new venue.

Brazil has a strong Paralympic swimming team (Photo: MPIX-CPB/Daniel Zappe)