Sophie Pascoe turned in another dominant performance to win the women’s SB9 100m breaststroke final in 1:18.09s.
The medal was New Zealand 150th gold at a Commonwealth Games.
“I could hear the crowd getting louder so I definitely knew an Aussie was coming up on me, that’s what made me dig in and go, I really want this.“
Paige Leonhardt and Madeleine Scott were closing fast in the final twenty-five meters, but failed to close.
Pascoe asserted her dominance on the race early on, taking the lead by the halfway mark and holding on for a victory margin of 0.72s. Leonhardt won silver in 1:18.81s and bronze for Scott in 1:19.98s.
This is Pascoe’s second gold medal of the games, winning the SM10 200m individual medley final on Saturday night.
“I came here and achieved what I needed to achieve, and this is a great stepping stone to the Tokyo 2020 Paralympics.”
In semi-final action, Daniel Hunter posted a 22.34 to just miss out on a spot in the men’s 50m freestyle final.
“This has been a massive learning experience and to swim two PB’s in two different events has made this an amazing games,“ Hunter said after the race.
Benjamin Proud (ENG), Bradley Tandy (RSA) and Cameron McEvoy (AUS) are the three fastest qualifiers for the final.
Sam Perry finished in 23.13s to finish 16th overall, this concludes both swimmers games campaigns.
Bobbi Gichard swam 28.56s to finish 10th overall in the women’s 50m backstroke.
Tomorrow Gichard will team up with Laticia Transom, Helena Gasson and Bronagh Ryan in the women’s 4X100m individual medley.
Earlier in the day, Lewis Clareburt posted another personal best, this time in the men’s 200m backstroke heats. His 2:01.54s was the best performance for the Kiwis in the event, finishing 10th overall.
Corey Main posted a 2:01.73 to finish in 11th and Bradlee Ashby 14th in 2:02.32s.
Daily wrap written by Swimming New Zealand.
