Estonia was represented by a team of five athletes at the 2024 Paralympic Games in Paris. In addition to Kaula and Topkin, triathlete Laura-Liis Juursalu came tenth in the PTS5 event, discus thrower Egert Jõesaar was eighth in the combined event and Robin Liksor finished eleventh in the men's 100m breaststroke SB8 class.

Susannah Kaul finished fifteenth in the women's 50m freestyle and thirteenth in the 100m backstroke in the S10 class. Matz Topkin was the Estonia team's best performer, reaching the final of the men's 50m backstroke in the S4 and finishing seventh.

"I'm happy, I couldn't really have done any more that day. I gave everything I had out there," said Topkin. "In broader terms, the bronze medal was the kind of prize I could have got if I'd swum the time I did in the European Championships in the spring. It's a bit of a shame that I wasn't in the best shape. But that's sport, what can you do?" Topkin added.

Kaul, who ended up competing foe Estonia in two events in Paris was not called up for the Paralympics until early August and had already considered her season to be over. "Obviously I could have done better, I would have liked to swim in the final. That was the goal, the first goal was to qualify from the morning swims. But I'm proud of myself for making it to the Paris Paralympics in the first place," Kaul said.

"It was a difficult process. At the beginning of July, I was told that I would definitely not be able to compete. At the beginning of August, I had to go. I was going, then I wasn't going, there was a lot of uncertainty. The preparation suffered too. After the announcement that I couldn't go, the 2024 season was over for me. I missed several weeks of training," Kaul explained.

Both swimmers spoke of the unprecedented size of the crowds, with Topkin also having the opportunity to carry the Estonian flag during the closing ceremony. "It was pretty awesome. I got to carry the flag a bit and hear it from that spot. The Stade de France was packed to capacity, all 80,000 seats were filled. They were shouting loudly and singing. I'm so glad I got to be there," Topkin said.

Kaul agreed. "If it hadn't been for the Paris experience, we wouldn't have known what we were missing out on with Tokyo. The audience has such power and strength, it's really memorable and exciting. For the swimming, both the morning and evening swims were sold out. It was awesome."

Ahead of the Tokyo Paralympics, Susannah Kaul told the media that para-athletes have to keep proving themselves time and time again that they are top athletes. Has the attitude towards para-sport changed over the years?

"I think it has changed and it's getting better. I think that now the Paralympics have proved that there is interest, and we are being seen as real athletes," said Kaul.

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