Australia Finishes on Top at Pan Pacific Para Swimming Championships

Australia’s Swimming team proved last weekend that it will be one of the delegations to beat at the London 2012 Paralympic Games next summer, as it stole the show at the inaugural Pan Pacific Para Swimming Championships in Edmonton, Canada.

Led by Ellie Cole’s six gold medals, Australia finished first in the final medal standings with 35 gold, 25 silver and 19 bronze medals. Team USA followed with 27 golds, 26 silvers and 16 bronze. Brazil was third with 24 golds, 13 silvers and 14 bronze. Host nation Canada placed sixth in the gold-medal count with 12.

Kayla Clarke and Blake Cochrane each racked up five golds for the Australians, while Matt Cowdrey took home four golds. Cochrane’s (1:02.46) final gold came in the 100m freestyle S8 on Sunday, and Cowdrey’s (55.42) final first-place finish came in the 100m freestyle S9.

Jessica Long and Mallory Weggemann led Team USA on the weekend. Long (2:38.15) won gold in the 200m individual medley SM8, in addition to taking first place in the 100m backstroke S8 and SB7 100m breaststroke SB7 races. She broke four world records on the weekend.

Weggemann (1:23.17), meanwhile, swam to a new world record in the 100m backstroke S7 and claimed gold in the 200m individual medley SM7 as well.

Brazil was led by Daniel Dias (1:12.09), who swam to gold in then 100m freestyle S5 on the final day of the Championships.

For Canada, Amber Thomas finished with four gold medals and Summer Mortimer with two.

The Championships, which featured 196 swimmers at Edmonton’s Kinsmen Sports Centre, served as a preview for the London 2012 Paralympic Games and allowed many of the athletes to make a splash onto the scene and challenge international competition.