Paralympian Cameron Leslie certainly kept the best for the last as the final Kiwi to swim on day two of the IDM German Open. Cheered on by his team mates he set a new world record overnight in Germany swimming a time of 2:25.77 in the Men’s SM4 150m Individual Medley, beating his own previous record of 2:25.98 set at the London 2012 Paralympic Games.
Cameron is well known for his world record breaking performances at both Beijing 2008 and London 2012 Paralympic Games. He will now be ranked number one in the world in the Men’s SM4 150m Individual Medley event.
Cameron will be thrilled with his performance following a disappointing silver medal and time of 2:26.55 in this event at last year’s IPC Swimming World Championships.
Malcolm Humm (High Performance Director, Paralympics New Zealand) said, “”It was great to see Cameron better his own world record. Having finished second in this event at the World Championships last year Cameron has been determined to retain his number one world ranking and this has been evident in the way he has been training. This meet is a vital part of preparations for the Rio 2016 Paralympic Games and the team have produced great results so far looking to contribute to the overall New Zealand Paralympic team medal target in Rio of 18 medals in total, 12 of these gold.“
Cameron is part of the New Zealand Paralympic team that current stands at 24 Para-Athletes across the sports of Para-Athletics, Para-Cycling, Para-Sailing and Para-Swimming. Paralympics New Zealand expects the team to be 25 – 35 Para-Athletes in total, with selections for up to one further Para-Sport and a possible second Para-Athletics announcement to follow within the next five weeks.
The IDM German Open is well known for attracting some of the world’s best Para-Athletes. This year around 600 athletes from 40 countries will compete ahead of the Rio 2016 Paralympic Games. The meet continues until 12 June. Follow the action live at https://www.paralympic.org/swimming
To view Cameron’s race https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=d_rmFLRNy9k (starts at 2:29.50)
