THORNLANDS swimmer Paige Leonhardt will compete in her second Paralympic Games this month aged just 20.
The Redlander - who featured in Rio and at the Gold Coast Commonwealth Games in 2018 - will compete in the 100m butterfly, 100m breaststroke and individual medley.
The Paralympics begin this week, hot on the heels of a successful Australian Olympics campaign which saw athletes bring home 17 gold, seven silver and 22 bronze.
Former Redlander Melissa Wu finished third in the 10m platform diving final, while Russell Island sailor Mara Stransky impressed on Olympic debut.
It has been a difficult build-up to the Games for Leonhardt, with Covid restrictions forcing changes to her training.
Her mother Tanya said Leonhardt had to adapt when pools closed at the start of the pandemic.
"She has had a lot of cold ocean swimming on the Gold Coast and she's had to swim in the backyard pool in wetsuits," she said.
"She has also had to do dry land training, which meant no swimming at all.
"It has been a very uphill (build-up) with really tough conditions."
Leonhardt went to her first Paralympics in 2016, where she qualified for the 100m butterfly and 100m breaststroke finals.
The Redlander - who was living in Port Macquarie at the time - also competed in the 50m freestyle, 100m freestyle, 100m backstroke and 200m individual medley.
She won silver at the Commonwealth Games.
Leonhardt faces a host of other challenges during her second bite of the Paralympic cherry in Tokyo, including regular Covid testing and a 14-day hotel quarantine stint on her return to Australia.
"She is used to it," Ms Leonhardt said. "She went to Texas in April to compete in the World Para Swimming.
"She quarantined for 14 days in Sydney, and that was just before trials.
"That was mentally tough for Paige because she had to do a lot of Covid screening then, but I guess that held her in good stead for Tokyo.
"It was challenging because it was during a pandemic, but it gave her a taste of what was yet to come from Tokyo."
The Tokyo Paralympics opening ceremony is to be held on Tuesday night.
Swimming medal events will take place across all bar two competition days.
Read more local sport news here.
