It was another thrilling day of competition in Berlin, as teenage sensation Kiwi Celyn Edwards claimed two more national records and an Oceania record, Chris Arbuthnott a further national record and Rio 2016 Paralympian Rebecca Dubber took more than 15 seconds off her personal best time to set a new national record in the pool.
16-year-old Celyn Edwards from Christchurch added the Men’s 50m Freestyle S8 (30.74) national record and Men’s 50m Breaststroke SB8 (41.23) national and Oceania records to take his total of national records to five so far in Berlin on the penultimate day of racing at the World Para Swimming Series.
Team mate and 18-year-old Chris Arbuthnott from Palmerston North added a second national record to his results in the Men’s 200m Butterfly S9 (2:20.87).
Rio 2016 Paralympic bronze medallist Rebecca Dubber showed she was in great form swimming at time of 53.70 in the Women’s 50m Breaststroke SB6 and smashing the previous national record by over 15 seconds. The time the North Shore Para swimmer had taken time out of the pool to refresh and refocus after the Rio 2016 Paralympic Games obviously of great benefit today.
Gary Francis (Para Swimming National Development Coach, Paralympics New Zealand) said, “Today saw outstanding achievements by Celyn, Chris and Rebecca. The national records and personal best times achieved by Celyn, Chris and Rebecca were fantastic. It was a superb day for the New Zealand Para swimmers with 80% of the team clocking personal best times. We are lucky to have a great group of rowdy New Zealand supporters with us in Berlin and they will certainly be looking forward to seeing what the team can produce tomorrow as we complete the final day of racing.“
The New Zealand Para Swimming Team have now set nine national records, one Oceania record and achieved a Commonwealth Games minimum qualifying standard. All five Para swimmers will be in action again tomorrow on the final day of racing in Berlin.
| Para swimmer | Event | Heat Time | Final Time | Notes | Notes | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| DAY 1 RESULTS | Jesse Reynolds | Men’s 200 Free | 2:11.53 | 2:11.57 | National record | Personal best |
| Men’s 200 Back | 2:28.92 | |||||
| Celyn Edwards | Men’s 100 Fly | 1:07.84 | 1:07.46 | National record | Personal best | |
| Men’s 100 Breast | 1:29.98 | 1:29.47 | Commonwealth Games MQS | Personal best | ||
| Chris Arbuthnott | Men’s 200 Free | 2:16.99 | ||||
| Men’s 200 Back | 2:34.78 | Personal best | ||||
| Rebecca Dubber | Women’s 200 Free | 2:46.81 | 2:46.50 | |||
| Women’s 200 Back | 3:11.62 | |||||
| Tupou Neiufi | Women’s 200 Back | 2:55.99 |
| Para swimmer | Event | Heat Time | Final Time | Notes | Notes | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| DAY 2 RESULTS | Jesse Reynolds | Men’s 100 Free | 1:00.90 | – | Personal best | Personal best |
| Men’s 50 Back | 31.61 | 31.25 | Personal best | |||
| Celyn Edwards | Men’s 100 Fly | 1:06.71 | – | National record | Personal best | |
| Men’s 50 Breast | 37.25 | 36.60 | National record | Personal best | ||
| Chris Arbuthnott | Men’s 100 Free | 1:00.35 | – | |||
| Men’s 50 Back | 31.49 | 30.99 | National record | |||
| Rebecca Dubber | Women’s 100 Free | 1:19.01 | – | |||
| Women’s 50 Back | 43.38 | 43.15 | ||||
| Tupou Neiufi | Women’s 100 Back | 1:13.55 | – | |||
| Women’s 50 Back | 35.81 | 35.27 |
| Para swimmer | Event | Heat Time | Final Time | Notes | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| DAY 3 RESULTS | Jesse Reynolds | Men’s 50 Free | 29.25 | – | |
| Men’s 200 Fly | 2:25.10 | Personal best | |||
| Celyn Edwards | Men’s 50 Free | 30.74 | – | National record | |
| Men’s 50 Breast | 41.47 | 41.23 | Commonwealth Games MQS | ||
| Chris Arbuthnott | Men’s 50 Free | 2:16.99 | |||
| Men’s 200 Fly | 2:20.87 | National record | |||
| Rebecca Dubber | Women’s 50 Free | 38.89 | – | ||
| Women’s 50 Breast | 53.70 | – | National record | ||
| Tupou Neiufi | Women’s 200 Back | 2:55.99 | – |
| Para swimmer | Events | |
|---|---|---|
| DAY 4 SCHEDULE | Celyn Edwards | Men’s 100 Freestyle |
| Celyn Edwards | Men’s 50 Backstroke | |
| Chris Arbuthnott | Men’s 100 Freestyle | |
| Chris Arbuthnott | Men’s 200 Butterfly | |
| Jesse Reynolds | Men’s 50 Freestyle | |
| Jesse Reynolds | Men’s 200 Butterfly | |
| Rebecca Dubber | Women’s 50 Freestyle | |
| Rebecca Dubber | Women’s 50 Breaststroke | |
| Tupou Neiufi | Women’s 100 Backstroke | |
| Tupou Neiufi | Women’s 50 Freestyle |
· Live streaming of the Berlin World Series will be made available on the 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 (CEST) in Berlin, Germany.
