Liesette Bruinsma

Part of a group of young visually impaired swimmers to have emerged as major medal contenders in the past two years is Dutch teenager Liesette Bruinsma.

With her double gold from the Rio 2016 Paralympic Games and an astonishing 18 world records broken since 2014, Bruinsma is one of the hottest properties in the women’s S11.

She has certainly put in the legwork, traveling around Europe to compete before arriving at the 2016 European Open Championships for her major international debut.

The hard work paid off and she left the competition with three titles and two more podium finishes.

Her path to Rio 2016 was indeed paved with gold and she bagged two Paralympic golds, beating more established names such as New Zealand’s Mary Fisher and Germany’s Daniela Schulte.

In 2017 Bruinsma, who was born with her impairment, will get the chance to claim her first world titles in Mexico City from 30 September.