By Gary Anderson

April 6 - Paralympic legend Matthew Cowdrey will lead the Australian medal charge in the pool at Glasgow 2014 ©Getty Images Multiple Paralympic gold medallist Matthew Cowdrey headlines the list of athletes named to the Australian Para-swimming squad that will head to Glasgow this summer for the Commonwealth Games.

Cowdrey leads a 12-strong Australian squad for the Games, which also includes Paralympic champions Blake Cochrane, Brendan Hall, Jacqui Freney, Maddison Elliot and Katherine Downie following the conclusion of the Australian Swimming Championships in Brisbane last week.

The 25-year-old is the most experienced member of the squad and will be looking to secure his fourth Commonwealth Games gold medal at the Tollcross International Swimming Centre, following on from two freestyle golds at Melbourne 2006 and an S9 50 metres title at Delhi 2010.

Young Australian of the Year Freney looks set to be one the stars in Glasgow and will be relishing her Commonwealth Games debut and return to Britain after clinching no less than eight Paralympic gold medals at London 2012.

Elliot will also be making her Games debut this summer and will be the youngest member of the squad.

The 15-year-old claimed two world titles in Montreal last year to add to her London 2012 gold as part of the women's 4x100m freestyle relay team.

Jacqui Freney will be eyeing Commonwealth Games gold when she makes her debut in Glasgow this year ©Getty Images Jacqui Freney will be eyeing Commonwealth Games gold when she makes her debut in Glasgow this year ©Getty Images



Double Paralympic champion Hall won his fifth and sixth world titles last year as part of the men's freestyle squad in Montreal, while Cochrane also built on his two Paralympic titles in London by securing World Championships SB7 100m breaststroke gold.

Local swimmer Daniel Fox also impressed at the Australian Championships in the Brisbane Aquatics Centre by securing his berth for Glasgow 2014 when he clocked a world record time of 1min 57.68sec in the men's S14 200m freestyle.

Joshua Alford, Jesse Aungles, Mitchell Kilduff, Rowan Crothers, and Madeleine Scott complete the line-up for this year's Commonwealth Games, which get underway on July 23.

The Australian Championships were also a selection trial for the upcoming Para Pan Pacific Championships due to take place in California later this year.

Australia will take on teams from Canada, Japan and the United States in Pasadena from August 6 to 10.

The Glasgow 2014 squad will be joined at those Championships by Michael Anderson, Kayla Clarke, Ashleigh Cockburn, Taylor Corry, Timothy Disken, Richard Eliason, Matthew Haanappel, Tanya Huebner, Ahmed Kelly, Matthew Levy, Andrew Pasterfield, Grant Patterson, Lakeisha Patterson, Rick Pendleton, Sean Russo, Jacob Templeton, Jeremy Tidy and Reagan Wickens, while Guy Harrison-Murray has been provisionally selected.

World champion Daniel Fox (centre) could be one of the stars of the pool at Glasgow 2014 ©Getty Images World champion Daniel Fox (centre) could be one of the stars of the pool at Glasgow 2014 ©Getty Images



"Our Paralympic swimmers were fantastic in London in 2012 and backed it up again in Montreal last year," said Swimming Australia President John Bertrand commenting on the squad announcement.

"Taking on the USA on their home soil will be tough, but what we've seen from these athletes this week suggests they are well on their way to continuing their good run of form on the international stage and preparing for Rio [2016 Paralympic Games]."

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