The University of Manchester is celebrating the incredible success of student Grace Harvey, who stormed to victory in the 100m breaststroke final at the Paris 2024 Paralympic Games.
A Dental Public Health master’s student and immunology graduate, Grace upgraded her silver medal from the Tokyo 2020 Paralympic Games in what proved to be a bumper night for the Team GB swimming team on Sunday.
Three more golds were secured in the pool by Brock Whiston in the 200m individual medley, Maisie Summers-Newton in the 100m breaststroke and the mixed 4x100m freestyle relay squad.
Grace now adds Paralympic gold to her impressive medal collection, with the swimmer already the current European champion in the 100m breaststroke (SB5), collecting gold at the 2024 Championships in Madeira and silver in the 100m freestyle (S6). She also won gold at the World Para Swimming Championships in Madeira in 2022, and silver in the Manchester event in 2023.
Following her dramatic win in the French capital, Grace said: “It means more than anything. To say I’m Paralympic Champion, I’ve never dared imagine that I would ever be in this position. I was always like ‘I just want to go out and do my own race’ but to finally finish first, it feels amazing.”
Grace, who has cerebral palsy, was previously a backstroke specialist before deciding to race breaststroke in early 2021. She has come a long way in her swimming career, having started the sport for physiotherapy and joining her first swimming club at nine years old.
James Marenghi, head of sport & physical activity at The University of Manchester, said: “A huge congratulations to Grace on her Paralympic Gold medal in the SB5 100m breaststroke, what a fantastic swim and exciting race to be a part of! She has worked so hard in and out of the pool to achieve the pinnacle in her sport and all of us at The University of Manchester couldn’t be more proud of her.
“I am extremely grateful to the all the sport scholarship support given to her from academic colleagues that have enabled her to successfully balance her sporting and academic ambitions, alongside the services delivered by our Sport practitioners. Grace is a true example of how excellence can be achieved in sport and in the classroom when balancing a dual career, and she deserves all the success that has come her way. Well done Grace!”
