2024 Paris Paralympic Games Moreton Bay coverage: Lakeisha Patterson in the heats

Photo: courtesy of Delly Carr and Swimming Australia.

Caboolture’s Lakeisha Patterson has swum in the women’s 200m IM SM9 heats at the 2024 Paris Paralympic Games this evening (AEST).

She came second in her heat with a time of 2:42.05, just behind Spain’s Nuria Marques Soto.

Her heat was slower than the previous heat, won by Hungarian Zsofia Konkoly with a time of 2:36.75, which means she has qualified seventh fastest for the final.

Patterson, an eight-time Paralympic medallist, had a strong backstroke leg and turned third before dropping back to fourth by the end of the breaststroke leg.

She saved the best for last, making up a plenty of ground in her strongest stroke – freestyle – to finish second and only a touch away from first.

The final is at 2.55am (AEST) on Friday, September 6.

Caboolture-based Patterson trained at Southern Cross, Lawnton and Burpengary, and is now with the Paralympic hub at UniSC.

She took silver in the 400m freestyle S9 event earlier in the 2024 Paris Paralympic Games program.