Pearse determined for more success

NINETEEN-year-old gold medallist Col Pearse has his sights set on the 2024 Paris Paralympics.

Pearse, from Bamawm Extension, has been named the Bendigo Sports Star of the Month for August following his triumphant swim in the men’s 100-metre butterfly S10 final at his first Commonwealth Games.

The gold medal added to his collection of two silvers at the 2022 World Championships and a bronze at last year’s Tokyo Olympics.

“[The gold medal] is nice, I’m very happy with myself and everything I’ve achieved so far but there’s still more to be done,” he said.

Returning home following the Birmingham Games, Pearse said he’s a bit of a household name around the northern Victoria region.

“Everywhere I go now Lockington, Echuca, Bamawm, Bamawm Extension, I don’t want to say I’m a celebrity, but everybody sort of congratulates you on your efforts,” he said.

“It was pretty cool going back to my old primary school and every single kid there new my name and wanted a photo or wanted a chat or a signature.”

After setting a personal best time of 56.91 seconds at Birmingham, Pearse said he’ll use that as motivation for Paris.

“Olympic and Paralympic Games are our end goal,” he said. “For me [the PB is] simply more tools in my toolbox and I’m trying to make my standard a lot faster.

“Leading into next year and 2024 I’ll want to be dropping a lot more time off that PB. There’s always room for improvement.”