WHORWOOD LEADS CHARGE ON DAY FOUR IN DURBAN
Silver from 16-year-old Matt Whorwood signalled the start
of another flurry of medals for Britain at the IPC World Championships
in South Africa.
The pocket rocket swam a ten-second personal best in the
S6 400m Freestyle to kick start the British team's 9-medal
haul on the fourth night of competition in Durban.
Whorwood (Newquay Cormorants) collected silver behind world
record holder Sebastian Rodrigues of Spain in 5:25.67. British
team mate Gareth Duke (Swim Swansea) finished sixth in 5:41.48.
"I feel fantastic," said a delighted Whorwood.
"All that work has finally paid off. Because of my age
I would have been happy just to get a medal but to win a silver
is more than I could have hoped for.
"The board didn't show my time when I touched so I was
slightly worried, but that was a 10-second PB and a British
record. This morning I swam to make the final and I was really
pleased to go though second fastest. I knew I had something
left in the tank, but I didn't know it was ten seconds worth."
Swim Swansea's Dave Roberts picked up his third gold medal
of the meet with a European record in the S7 400m Freestyle.
Roberts, who has already been crowned champion in the 100m
freestyle and 4x100m relay this week, was just off world record
pace to finish in 4:53.80.
"To get the 400m title means a lot to me," he said.
"I've got the Paralympic and European titles, but I came
second at the last World Championships in Argentina so it
was important to do well here.
"It's been a great World Championships for me so far
and it's exceeded my expectations, especially in that swim.
I couldn't believe the pace of my race. It's frustrating to
be so close to the world record and not realise, but it's
taken me six years to get close to it and now it's within
reach."
British team mate Andrew Lindsay (Incas) was also at his
best to swim his quickest time ever for silver in 5:01.66
and 15-year-old Jonathan Fox (Newquay Cormorants) lowered
his lifetime best to finish fifth in 5:19.67.
"After my performance in the heats I knew I could get
a PB this afternoon," said Lindsay. "My swim was
really smooth and controlled this morning and felt there was
more in there.
"It really helps to race against a British team mate
as there's always the hope you'll get a one-two and we achieved
that today. It's a great result and really good for the British
team. That's my last event now so I'm going to put all my
effort into supporting and helping the team continue its good
run of performances."
Nyree Lewis put the disappointment of Sunday's breaststroke
behind her to focus on a solid performance in the S6 400m
Freestyle. The 26-year-old, who moved to Leominster Swim Club
at the start of the year, was back close to her best to snatch
gold in 6:04.46.
"I'm really pleased to win, but I would have liked to
have gone faster," she admitted. "I've not felt
one hundred percent since the breaststroke at the weekend
so I'm chuffed I did it in the time I did.
"In Athens I finished third in this event and only got
one individual gold so to get two here already is really encouraging.
I was disappointed after my performance on Sunday and I needed
this to pick me up again."
S1 swimmer Danielle Watts is leading a personal charge to
boost Britain's medal tally as she collected her third individual
gold medal of the meet. Watts dominated the 50m Backstroke
and touched almost 20 seconds ahead of her nearest rival in
1:22.26, just three hundredths of a second away from the world
record.
"I'm chuffed with that performance," she said.
"It's a shame I just missed out on the world record but
I'll nail it next time. That's my third gold now which is
brilliant as they all count towards the team total. To come
here and get results like that makes all the hard work worth
while."
Claire Cashmore received a welcome boost with silver in the
SB8 100m Breaststroke. The Kelly College student lead the
field at the half way point but lost out to Denmark's Sisse
Egeborg on the final sprint and finished in 1:27.98.
"I really wanted gold and it was so close," she
said. "At 50m I knew I was in front and I thought I had
it but I messed up my finish.
"I'm pleased to get silver though - I've been so frustrated
with my performances here. I've been working so hard and I
didn't feel like it was paying off, but now I've got the medal
it's a big boost and I'll aim to get Sisse back in Beijing."
Jim Anderson lost out to newcomer Dmitry Kokarev who took
the title in the S2 50m Backstroke. The Russian passed Anderson
on the final 20m to hit the wall in 1:04.97, and Anderson
was forced to settle for silver in 1:08.07.
"I'm quite disappointed with the silver, but it shows
I have to work on my back-end speed," he said. "I
hit my half-way target but lost it on the last 25m. I'll have
to try and beat him in the 100m Freestyle. I find I do better
over the longer distances because I can get into a rhythm."
In the S3 50m Freestyle, Fran Williamson won her first major
international title in a new British record. The Colchester
Phoenix sliced more than two seconds off her previous best
to lower the record to 1:04.36 and beat long-term rival Annke
Conradi of Germany.
Another Brit improving their lifetime best was James Crisp
who set a new British record in the SM9 200m Individual Medley.
Crisp turned around a slow start to the meet to lower his
best to 2:22.85 for the bronze.
"That's my first PB for four years in that event,"
he said. "I knew I was in with a chance of a medal but
I felt quite heavy going into the race, so I'm really pleased
with the end result.
"I've been disappointed with some of my performances
so far but I was pretty before the event. It's not an event
I train for, I just like to race it and it turned out well
for me tonight."
Other top performances for Britain in the pool include bronze
in the S13 100m Butterfly for Swim Swansea's Rhiannon Henry
and British records for Rob Welbourn (S10 200m Individual
Medley), Callum Lawson (SB9 100m Breaststroke) and Claire
Warne (S5 50m Butterfly).
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