Andrew Cooke

Andrew Cooke continued to grow his talent this season by qualifying for the Toronto 2015 Parapan Am Games team. Cooke reached the final in five events at the Speedo Can Am Para-swimming Championships, placing second in the S5 50-metre backstroke plus third in the 50-m, 100-m and 200-m freestyle and third in the 50-m butterfly.

Cooke started swimming at age 10, initially to help him relax his muscles, but before long it was clear he also had potential in the sport. The swimmer, who has cerebral palsy, earned a berth on the Canadian team for the 2014 Pan Pacific Para-swimming Championships in Pasadena, Calif. Cooke won the silver medal in the 50-m backstroke, bronze in the 200-m individual medley, was fourth in the 50-m freestyle and helped Canada to fifth in the 4X50-m relay – all were Canadian record times.

Cooke qualified for the Para Pan Pac team at the Can-Am Championships in Miami in March 2014. He broke the Canadian record and won gold in the 200-m individual medley and also posted qualifying times in the 100-m freestyle and 200-m freestyle.

In 2012, Cooke competed at the Paralympic trials but missed qualifying for the London Games later that summer.

In 2011, Cooke made his international debut as a member of the Canadian team at the Para Pan American Games in Guadalajara, Mexico. His best results were fifth in the 100-m breaststroke and sixth place finishes in the 50-m freestyle and 200-m freestyle.