Sophie Pascoe raised four fingers to signify the four Gold medals she’s won at the World Para Swimming Championships in London after claiming the Women’s 50m Freestyle S9 title in a time of 27.77 seconds.
The Christchurch swimmer and current World Record holder pushed ahead within her first ten strokes and held a clear lead by the halfway mark, before finishing with a 1.4 second advantage over second with just one hundredth of a second splitting second and third.
The 26-year-old swam a championship record of 27.77 which was just under half a second off her World Record time of 27.32, which she set in Auckland at the New Zealand Nationals in June.
“I’m really happy, I just wanted to go into tonight and sub that 28 (seconds) so the fact that I was able to do that and four from four now, I’m super excited and now we can celebrate with a cheeky wee champagne post-race… haha.“
“Going into that race I just really wanted to be controlled and just relax the nerves as much as possible. I was nervous ahead of this race, probably more so than any other race this week. I think with it being the last day and obviously being a 50 (meters); anything can happen in a 50.“
Pascoe, who swam a reduced programme this World Champs, says she’s been able to really enjoy the week. “I really wanted to embrace the whole experience, take in the whole atmosphere, take in your own feelings, take in the surroundings, other people’s feelings and really take in the whole experience and enjoy the journey. That’s what I’ve been able to do this week and it’s been great.“
Chris Arbuthnott, who was swimming in his first ever World Championships, touched the wall in 26.75 seconds in the Men’s 50m Freestyle S9 but missed out on the final.
While Celyn Edwards, who was also making his debut at the World Championships, stopped the clock in 1:23.50 in the Men’s 100m Breaststroke SB8 to gain some valuable experience but also missed out on the night final.
With 11 months to go until the Tokyo 2020 Paralympics, Paralympics New Zealand Para Swimming Programme Leader Graeme Maw felt the Championships was a success and looks forward to the coming months to make further improvements.
“Both Sophie and Cameron swam reduced programs so they have other medal events that they can roll out in the coming year. Breaking onto the World Championships podium at Tupou’s first World Championships was a great success. We’ve had three others’ make their debut at a World Championships too, so they’ll learn a lot from the experience.“
The New Zealand team returns home with six Golds, one Silver, 1 World Record, 11 Personal Bests and a raft of swimmers in the top eight in the world.
Full wrap for DAY 1 available here.
Full wrap for DAY 2 available here.
Full wrap for DAY 3 available here.
Full wrap for DAY 4 available here.
Full wrap for DAY 5 available here.
Full wrap for DAY 6 available here.
