New Zealand Para swimmers break records on first day in Berlin

The New Zealand Para Swimming Team took to the pool for the first day of the IDM Berlin Open showing their competitors they meant business. The final event of the World Para Swimming Series saw the team of five Para swimmers collectively set two new national records, achieve a Commonwealth Games minimum qualifying standard while swimming five personal best times.

Rio 2016 Paralympian Jesse Reynolds was in great form and celebrated his return to international competition by breaking the national record in the Men’s 200m Freestyle S9 in a time of 2:11.53.

Cantabrian Para swimmer Celyn Edwards made his international Para swimming debut in Berlin today. The 16-year old took his tally of national records to 22, swimming a time of 1:07.46 in the Men’s 100m Butterfly S8 final. Edwards had come to the meet with a clear goal of meeting the minimum qualifying standard and to be in contention for selection to the Gold Coast Commonwealth Games in April next year. He achieved this in both the heat and final of the Men’s 100m Breaststroke SB8.

Gary Francis (Para Swimming National Development Coach, Paralympic New Zealand) said, “It was a great start to the final event of the World Para Swimming Series here in Berlin. The team performed really well achieving some important milestones including five personal best times.“ He continued, “For Rio 2016 Paralympians Jesse Reynolds, Rebecca Dubber and Tupou Neiufi this was their first time competing on the international stage since the Rio 2016 Paralympic Games and the event has provided an opportunity to benchmark themselves against some of the best in the world.“

Ben Close (Para swimming coach to Celyn Edwards) said, “We were thrilled with Celyn’s performance today. Swimming to a Commonwealth Games qualification time, national record and two personal best times is a great result on day one of his international Para swimming debut.“

All five Para swimmers will be in action again tomorrow in Berlin.

The final event of the World Para Swimming Series saw the team of five Para swimmers collectively set two new national records, achieve a Commonwealth Games minimum qualifying standard while swimming five personal best times.

Rio 2016 Paralympian Jesse Reynolds was in great form and celebrated his return to international competition by breaking the national record in the Men’s 200m Freestyle S9 in a time of 2:11.53.

Cantabrian Para swimmer Celyn Edwards made his international Para swimming debut in Berlin today. The 16-year old took his tally of national records to 22, swimming a time of 1:07.46 in the Men’s 100m Butterfly S8 final. Edwards had come to the meet with a clear goal of meeting the minimum qualifying standard and to be in contention for selection to the Gold Coast Commonwealth Games in April next year. He achieved this in both the heat and final of the Men’s 100m Breaststroke SB8.

Gary Francis (Para Swimming National Development Coach, Paralympic New Zealand) said, “It was a great start to the final event of the World Para Swimming Series here in Berlin. The team performed really well achieving some important milestones including five personal best times.“ He continued, “For Rio 2016 Paralympians Jesse Reynolds, Rebecca Dubber and Tupou Neiufi this was their first time competing on the international stage since the Rio 2016 Paralympic Games and the event has provided an opportunity to benchmark themselves against some of the best in the world.“

Ben Close (Para swimming coach to Celyn Edwards) said, “We were thrilled with Celyn’s performance today. Swimming to a Commonwealth Games qualification time, national record and two personal best times is a great result on day one of his international Para swimming debut.“

All five Para swimmers will be in action again tomorrow in Berlin.

• Live streaming of the Berlin World Series will be made available on World Para Swimming’s website
• Each race is run in mixed classification format. Para swimmers with different classifications will compete in the same race with the winner of each race calculated by comparison to the world record. The time that is within the closest percentage of the World Record time in that Para swimmer’s class wins.
• The IDM Berlin Open is the final event that makes up the World Para Swimming Event Series. IPC Swimming World Championships will attract more than 600 Para swimmers from 52 nations
• The event is taking place on 6 – 9 July 2017 in Berlin, Germany.