BRITISH QUARTET SET NEW WORLD STANDARD
Britain won gold in the men's 39-point 4x100m Freestyle in
world record time to top off an awesome first night for the
team at the IPC World Championships in Durban.
With a flurry of medals toward the end of the session, Britain
clocked up five gold, two silver and two bronze medals to
start as they mean to go on.
In the men's relay the quartet of Matthew Walker (Marple),
Graham Edmonds, David Roberts (both Swim Swansea) and Rob
Welbourn (Lincoln Vulcans) repeated their performance of the
Athens Paralympics to seal the victory in a thrilling race
that saw them go head to head with the Australians on the
final leg.
Welbourn was one with the Australian as they dived in for
the final leg, but the Lincoln Vulcans swimmer kept his nerve
to touch home first in 3:58.28.
"We went in like that in Athens," said an exhausted
Welbourn. "I beat him then so I knew I could beat him
again."
"We lost out to China at the last World Championships
so we had to do the business tonight," added Walker.
"In Athens we became the first team to dip below four
minutes and we've lowered that time again. Now we're World
and Paralympic Champions. We just need to win in Europe to
get the set."
Because swimmers of different classifications go head to
head in the relay races, the likely result isn't known until
the final swimmer hits the water.
"You can't tell how you're doing until the last leg,"
explained Edmonds. "We know if we can get Rob in the
water in first or second position we're in with a good chance.
We did pretty well to defend our performance in Athens. We're
still number one in the world which is a great feeling."
Teenager Claire Warne was the surprise medallist of the night,
collecting the first gong for Britain - bronze in the SM5
200m Individual Medley.
The 13-year-old from Luton, who is part of a group of junior
athletes selected to the British squad to gain major event
experience in the run-up to London 2012, smashed her personal
best by a staggering 15 seconds to clock home in 4:15.13 for
bronze and a new British record.
"I didn't realise I'd got a medal until I got out of
the pool - I'm speechless," said a shocked Warne. "From
the entry times I knew I was in with a chance but it would
depend on how the others performed and I had no idea what
to expect."
"The 200m IM is my best event and it's the one I qualified
in at the trials so to win a medal here is just great. I hope
it's the start to a brilliant meet for the team."
And indeed it was as some of the more seasoned swimmers swam
to victory on the first night of competition.
World record holders Nyree Lewis (Leominster), Andrew Lindsay
(Incas), James Anderson (Broxburn) and Danielle Watts (City
of Oxford) did not disappoint as all four won gold in their
respective events.
After being beaten to the touch by China's Fuying Jiang in
this morning's S6 100m Backstroke, Leominster's Lewis was
determined to reverse that order and defend her reputation
in her number one event. Leaving it to the final 10 metres,
Lewis pulled ahead to touch home in 1:28.99.
"I had problems with my legs this morning and I didn't
do as well as I hoped so I'm really pleased with that,"
she said. "When Jiang beat me home this morning I knew
the pressure was on and I had to do well this evening as it's
my number one event.
"It was really hard in there. When you race against
swimmers that only use their legs it's really difficult to
know exactly where they are - you can only see the splashes.
I felt stronger tonight and after this morning I knew I had
to step it up a gear.
"I wasn't far off my world record and I would have liked
to lower that tonight but at the end of the day, the result
of the race is most important."
S1 swimmer Danielle Watts was thrilled with her result in
the mixed 50m Freestyle that saw her beat less disabled athletes
from the S2 classification. The City of Oxford swimmer's time
of 1:21.17 was just outside her best.
"I knew I was on good form, but I'm really surprised
to have beaten the S2 swimmers," she said. "I've
had a consistent period of training at home and I've had a
good two weeks of preparation here in South Africa and that's
obviously paid off."
"The Ukrainian was faster coming into the meet and so
I knew it would be close, but I went for it and that's the
best I've swum in quite a while."
Jim Anderson was victorious in an extremely close S2 50m
Freestyle race where all three medallists finished within
half a second of each other. Anderson came back from a slow
start to hit the wall first in 1:09.10, closely followed by
Russia's Dmitry Kokarev and American rival Curtis Lovejoy.
"I slipped at the start as I was getting into the pool
and I thought I'd blown it," said Anderson. "I knew
it would be tough today and I didn't realise I'd won until
I got out the pool. It was so close, I can't believe it."
Andrew Lindsay also shook off tough competition for the Championship
title, taking gold in the S7 100m Backstroke. Fired up for
the race, Lindsay was under pressure on the first length but
belted it home over the second 50m to win in 1:15.31, a tenth
of a second off his world best.
"I was going for the world record but I'm not far off
so I'm happy with that," he said. "I've been training
well with Anthony Stickland at the High Performance Centre
in Stirling and the work we've put in has paid off today.
"The competition has improved greatly over the last
couple of years and the Argentineans and Japanese are starting
to pose a real threat. The 100m Backstroke is always tough
though and I know that I'm not invincible so it was really
important to come here and win."
Kenny Cairns was the third Scot to medal, picking up silver
in the S3 50m Freestyle. He finished in 54.16 seconds, behind
Dmytro Vinohradets of Ukraine who won gold in 53.43.
Colchester Phoenix's Fran Williamson was on the form of her
life to swim to silver in the women's S3 50m Freestyle. She
was unable to hold onto the lead she established over the
first 40m, but her time was good enough for the podium spot
and a new British record of 1:03.16, knocking more than three
seconds off her previous best.
"I can't believe it," she said. "I was really
worried about today. I knew the Chinese girls would be quick
and I didn't think I'd be in with a chance.
"I had an operation on my foot earlier this year and
I've only been back in training for the last eight months,
so I wasn't expecting much today. But to win silver with a
British record is just brilliant. I was so surprised I had
to look at the board twice!"
Anthony Stephens swam a personal best in this morning's heats
of the S5 50m Freestyle, so was disappointed to only get bronze
in the final. The Swim Swansea athlete was just outside the
time he set in the heats and touched home in 35.24 seconds.
"That was slower than this morning so I'm a little bit
disappointed," he admitted. "I was hoping to go
under 35 seconds but I'm feeling quite sluggish tonight and
I'm not sure why.
"It's not my main event and I set a PB this morning,
so that's a positive. I wish I could have been faster but
I got a medal so I'm pleased with that."
Other Brits to set lifetime bests in the pool today included
Emma Cattle (Luton) in the heats of the S10 100m Butterfly,
David Ellis (Derventio) in the S13 200m Individual Medley,
Natalie Jones (Colchester Phoenix) in the S6 100m Backstroke,
Jonathan Fox (Newquay Cormorants) in the S7 100m Backstroke
and Rachel Latham (Horwich Leisure Centre) in the S8 100m
Backstroke.
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