PARIS, France - Incoming Golden Hawk swimmer Katie Cosgriffe and team alum Alec Elliot will be diving into the Paralympic Games in Paris starting Thursday.

Beginning her Bachelor of Business Administration and Financial Math in the fall, Cosgriffe is from Burlington, Ont. and currently swims with the Oakville Aquatic Club.

Cosgriffe will debut in her first Paralympic Games, taking place from August 28 until September 8, after winning the S10 100m butterfly and S10 100m backstroke at the Canadian Olympic and Paralympic swimming Trials in Toronto.

This is not Cosgriffe's first time on the national stage as she competed at the 2023 Para World Championship in Manchester and was named Canada's Breakout Swimmer of the Year for her efforts which included finishing just off the podium in both the 100m butterfly and 100m backstroke.   

Cosgriffe is currently the Canadian S10 record holder in the LC 50m, 100m butterfly and the 4x100m medley relay events.

Laurier Alumni Alec Elliot will be attending his third Paralympic Games this summer thanks to his top finishes at the Canadian Olympic and Paralympic Swimming Trials, which included 2^nd 100m Backstroke, 3^rd 100m Butterfly, and 3^rd 200m Individual Medley.

Elliot is originally from Kitchener, Ont. and began his swimming career at the Region of Waterloo Swim Club.

Elliot swam for Laurier in the 2016/2017 season while studying Biology.

He has been one of Canada's top Para swimmers since 2015 when he broke onto the scene at the Parapan American Games in Toronto, where he won five bronze medals. Elliot has amassed quite the collection of medals over the years, including several World Championship medals.

Elliot is currently a Canadian record holder in the LC 4x100m medley relay which was set at the 2016 Paralympic Games.

Both Cosgriffe and Elliot compete in the S10 category with Elliot also competing in the SM10 category.

In Para swimming, there are several different classifications which identify the severity of the athlete's limitations. These classifications are designed through letters and numbers; the higher the number, the less severe the limitation.

Classifications with the prefix "S" denotes the class for Freestyle, Backstroke and Butterfly events. The prefix "SB" denotes the class for Breaststroke and the prefix "SM" denotes the class for the Individual Medley.

Their scheduled race times are listed below. All the action from the pool deck can be seen live at cbc.ca/paralympics

Cosgriffe
S10 50 free - Aug 29 
S10 100 fly - Sept 3 
S10 100 back - Sept 6
SM10 200 IM - Sept 7

Elliot
S10 100 free - Sept 1
S10 100 fly - Sept 3
S10 100 back - Sept 6
SM10 200 IM - Sept 7