PARALYMPIC HERO MATT COWDREY TO SWIM IN MELBOURNE THIS WEEKEND

Melbourne, September 17: It was only on Monday that Matt Cowdrey won his fifth gold - and eighth medal - at the Paralympics in Beijing but the superfish has already earmarked a return to competition at this weekend's Telstra Australian Short Course Championships in Melbourne.

Cowdrey will be joined by almost a third of Australia's jubilant Paralympic swim team that won 29 medals in the Chinese capital, including medallists Jacquie Freney, Ellie Cole, Jay Dohnt and Sam Bramham.

The team will fly into Sydney from Beijing on Saturday morning at about the same time the Championships begin in Melbourne before 13 of them jet south to begin racing at the five day short course meet from Sunday morning.

Cowdrey and his Paralympic teammates will be a major drawcard at the short course meet alongside Olympic stars Cate Campbell, Hayden Stoeckel, Christian Sprenger and Sophie Edington who have also entered the meet.

The meet will also provide an awesome opportunity for the next generation of Olympic hopefuls to shine in the absence of the older, higher profile swimmers and two important junior teams - the 2009 Junior Pan Pacific Championships team and the 2009 Australian Youth Olympic Festival team - will be selected from the meet.

Both of those meets have been major steps along the Olympic pathway for some of the stars of Beijing.

The Junior Pan Pacs team from 2005 contained eight members of Australia's team in Beijing - Stephanie Rice, Bronte Barratt, Andrew Lauterstein, Grant Brits, Angie Bainbridge, Kirk Palmer, Alicia Coutts and Kenrick Monk - and between them they brought home ten medals - five gold, a silver and four bronze.

Another Beijing gold medallist, 4x200 metre freestyle third swimmer Kylie Palmer, was in the 2005 Australian Youth Olympic Festival team.

All told that means more than 20 percent of the Australian team and almost 30 percent of those that won medals in Beijing came through the corresponding two youth teams that will be picked from these Short Course Championships.

Tickets can be purchased at the door and start at $3 for children / concession and $5 for adults. Heats sessions start at 10am each day, with finals set down for 6.30pm.