BRITS BREAK EUROPEAN RECORDS
The women's 100m Butterfly final saw two European records
lowered on the second day of the British International Swimming
Championships in Sheffield.
City of Salford swimmer Heather Frederiksen entered this
competition after hitting excellent form at the British Championships
and looked strong throughout today's events. She took to the
water in the final event of the day the 100m Butterfly final
and look strong throughout the race.
She turned at the 50m mark within the European record and
she claimed the new standard and the gold medal after touching
in a time of 1:17.54 to get 843 points in the S8 category.
"That has just topped off a really good day," Frederiksen
said. "I have just been aiming to get some solid swims
behind me as I am in the middle of heavy training and to get
a European and British record and a personal best time is
really encouraging for me.
"I know I couldn't have done it without my coach John
Stout, he always supports me and I owe this performance to
him."
Frederiksen claimed her second record of the day in the 50m
Freestyle where she touched in a time of 32.36 take the British
record and claimed 923 in the S8 category.
Also swimming in the 100m Butterfly was Melksham's Stephanie
Millward, who broke her own European record after an extremely
confident swim.
She started excellently and found herself reaching the half
way mark well within the European record and when she touched
home in a time of 1:13.55 she knew she had lowered the record
again.
She took the bronze medal with a total of 765 points in the
S9 category.
"I got the European record three weeks ago at the British
Championships and to have lowered it again is excellent,"
Millward said. "I have only been training for the past
6 ½ months and to have this sort of form now is great.
"My coach told me to just get in and swim a really quick
first 50m and I did that but as I went into the final 50m
I was really struggling. It was real hard work as I hit the
final 25m so to have got that record again is fantastic."
The silver medal in the 100m Butterfly was claimed by New
Zealand's Sophie Pascoe in a time of 1:13.62 and 819 in the
S10 classification.
Derventio's David Ellis continued his record breaking form
as he broke the British record in the men's 100m Breaststroke
twice throughout the heats and finals.
He secured a time of 1:11.35 in this morning's heats to claim
the British record and he entered the final looking confident.
He went out quickly but it was in the final 50m that Ellis
came into his own.
He looked like he was going to close the gap on New Zealand's
Daniel Sharp but in the final 10m Sharp's power was too much
for Ellis.
Ellis touched in a time of 1:10.54 to claim the British record
and the silver medal after gaining 901 points in the SB13
classification.
"That felt better than the heats and I had a strong
final 50m," Ellis said. "I saw Daniel Sharp out
of the corner of my eye and I thought I could catch him so
I upped the tempo in the final 25m but he was just a bit too
strong for me.
"I got the record in the heats first and that built
my confidence for the final so I knew I could go out and lower
it again. I had a really disappointing breaststroke at the
British Championships but that was almost three seconds faster
than that competition and I met the qualification time so
I am really happy with that performance."
Sharp took the gold medal with a time of 1:09.81 and a total
of 929 points also in the SB13 classification.
The bronze medal went to Germany's Daniel Calusner in a time
of 1:11.35 and a total of 870 in the SB13 category.
The women's 400m Freestyle saw another British record lowered
as Rhiannon Henry (Swansea Performance) swam an excellent
race to also claim the gold medal.
She kept a good pace throughout the race to touch in a time
of 4:43.33, swimming in the S13 category, Henry claimed a
total of 941 points to take the top spot.
"I am really pleased," Henry said. "My main
focus was the British Championships three weeks ago and every
race was a PB for me apart from my 400m so to get that here
makes me really happy.
"I took a week off after the British Championships so
to have come here and get the British record after a week
off is confusing but pleasing. That broke a really old PB
for me and I am really happy with it."
The silver medal was taken by Swim Swansea's Jenny Coughlin
in a time of 5:08.12 and gained a total of 731 points in the
S13 category.
Black Lion swimmer Alexandra Adams took the bronze medal
in a time of 5:31.16 and a total of 589 points in the S13
classification.
Wyre Forest's Fran O'Connor broke the British record in the
women's 50m Freestyle B final but just missed out on the vital
Paralympic qualification time.
She looked strong throughout her race and she touched in
a time of 36.06 to take a total of 806 points in the S7 classification.
"It is good to break the record but I just missed the
qualification time," O'Connor said. "I have mixed
feelings about that result really as I got a record and a
PB but still missed the important time."
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