Sophie Pascoe roared to gold in her favoured Women’s 200m Individual Medley S10 on Day 3 of the Pan Pacific Para Swimming Championships in Cairns. She finished over 1sec ahead of rival Aurelie Rivard of Canada, winner of gold to Pascoe’s silver yesterday in the Women’s 100m Freestyle S10.
Following 2x mighty gold medals in the Men’s 400m Freestyle S6 and Men’s 100m Freestyle S6 on Day 1 and 2, 18-year-old Hamish McLean still leads overall team performance after winning a silver in the Men’s 200m Individual Medley S6 today. Fellow Rio 2016 Paralympian, Jesse Reynolds, delivered a performance 3sec ahead of his Personal Best to win bronze in the Men’s 200m Individual Medley SM9.
The result takes New Zealand’s overall tally to 8x medals in total (3x gold, 3x silver, 2x bronze).
Pascoe is a triple Paralympic champion in the Women’s 200m Individual Medley S10, winning gold medals at the Rio 2016, London 2012 and Beijing 2008 Paralympic Games and repeating this result at the Gold Coast 2018 Commonwealth Games back in April. She currently also holds the World Record. She said after the race: “I have a bit to work on but its all great stuff to take home with me.“
Reynolds said: “My race was absolutely awesome. I could not have asked for a much better race than that. It was exactly as we had planned it. I went out a little bit slower this morning (in the heats), used a lot less energy, and then really gave it hell in the last hundred tonight and came home strong. My main event is tomorrow, the 100m Backstroke, so all focus is on that but so far, it’s been a pretty good comp!“
It was disappointment for 17-year-old Celyn Edwards, setting the third fast time in the Men’s 200m Individual Medley SM8, only to be disqualified on a technicality. Earlier in the week Edwards finished 4th in the Men’s 100m Breaststroke SB8 and won a silver as part of the Men’s 4x 100m Medley relay.
International debutant Amanda Lowry was back in the pool, finishing with a 3sec Personal Best in the Women’s 50m Backstroke S2 after a 6sec Personal Best in the Women’s 100m Freestyle S2 yesterday.
The team welcomed triple Paralympic gold medallist Cameron Leslie into the Village tonight, fresh from playing against the best world teams with the Wheel Blacks at the GIO 2018 IWRF Wheelchair Rugby World Championships in Sydney. Leslie will compete in the Men’s 150m Individual Medley on Monday
“I have never had a preparation quite like this, coming straight in from a wheelchair rugby competition. Over the past week I have had a team from High Performance Sport New Zealand helping by setting up a recovery plan for me, in order to get me in the best shape I can possibly be. We’ve had to be doing ice baths and particular recovery protocols to get here. It’s been really successful actually, I feel the best I ever have after a rugby competition. I am definitely feeling confident we can achieve our target time.“
Day 4 of racing (Sunday, 12 August) for the New Zealand Team will see:
- Heats at 12.00pm NZT Women’s 100m Backstroke: Tupou Neiufi, Sophie Pascoe, Bryall MacPherson
- Heats at 12.18pm NZT Men’s 100m Backstroke: Celyn Edwards, Jesse Reynolds, Chris Arbuthnott
- Finals at 8.45pm NZT Men’s 34pt 400m Freestyle Relay: TBD
Para swimmer | Classification / Impairment | Club | Event | Result | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Day 3 – 11 August 2018 | Sophie Pascoe | S10/SB9/SM10 – Limb deficiency (Amputee – left below knee) | QE11 | Women’s 200m Individual Medley | Gold |
Hamish McLean | S6/SB6/SM6 – Short stature (Achondroplasia) | Wanaka | Men’s 200m Individual Medley | Silver | |
Jesse Reynolds | S9/SB8/SM9 – Limb deficiency (Proximal Focal Femoral Deficiency PFFD) | Fairfield | Men’s 200m Individual Medley | Bronze | |
Amanda Lowry | S3/SB2/SM3 – Loss muscle power (Tetraplegia) | Otumoetai | Women’s 50m Backstroke | PB | |
Celyn Edwards | S8/SB8/SM8 – Limb deficiency (Amputee – left upper arm) | Selwyn | Men’s 200m Individual Medley | DISQ | |
Day 2 – 10 August 2018 | Hamish McLean | S6/SB6/SM6 – Short stature (Achondroplasia) | Wanaka | Men’s 100m Freestyle S6 | Gold |
Sophie Pascoe | S10/SB9/SM10 – Limb deficiency (Amputee – left below knee) | QE11 | Women’s 100m Freestyle S10 | Silver | |
Jesse Reynolds, Celyn Edwards, Christopher Arbuthnott, Hamish McLean | Various | Various | Men’s 4 x 100m Medley relay | Silver | |
Amanda Lowry | S3/SB2/SM3 – Loss muscle power (Tetraplegia) | Otumoetai | Women’s 100m Freestyle S2 | PB | |
Chris Arbuthnott | S9/SB9/SM9 – Limb deficiency (Congenital – right below elbow) | Ice Breakers | Men’s 100m Freestyle S9 | PB | |
Day 1 – 9 August 2018 | Hamish McLean | S6/SB6/SM6 – Short stature (Achondroplasia) | Wanaka | Men’s 400m Freestyle S6 | Gold |
Jesse Reynolds | S9/SB8/SM9 – Limb deficiency (Proximal Focal Femoral Deficiency PFFD) | Fairfield | Men’s 100m Breaststroke SB8 | Bronze | |
Celyn Edwards | S8/SB8/SM8 – Limb deficiency (Amputee – left upper arm) | Selwyn | Men’s 100m Breaststroke SB8 | 4th |
