Silverman and Wheeler break records at CanAms

"My coach and I decided to go for the record in the 1,500m."

US Paralympian Ian Silverman starred on the first day of competition at the 2013 Spring CanAm swimming event on Thursday (4 April), setting a world record – pending IPC Swimming ratification – in the 1,500m freestyle S10.

"My coach and I decided to go for the record in the 1,500m," Silverman said after his race.

"I was able to execute my race strategy and pace throughout the race to get my first world record. After the 1,500 prelim this morning, I swam a bunch of 100s to prepare for tonight, and it paid off with a win in the 100m free. I'm looking forward to the 400 free on Saturday and going for the 800 free world record tomorrow."

Silverman was one of more than 200 athletes from Brazil, Canada, Columbia, France, Iceland, Mexico, Russia and the USA competing at the event, which runs through the weekend.

Kayla Wheeler set a new world record in the morning's prelims, then topped that record in the finals with a time of 1:30.57 in the 50m butterfly.

"I tried something new tonight and didn't tell my coach what I was planning," said Wheeler. "I focused less on my turnover and more on the underwater pull and it really paid off. I'm super excited about my swim tonight and I look forward to the rest of the meet."

Star swimmer Jessica Long easily won her 100m freestyle S8 race in a time of 1:07.02.

Friday’s (5 April) events feature competition in the 50m freestyle, 200m individual medley, 200m butterfly, 100m backstroke, 50m breaststroke and 800m freestyle.

The event is serving as both Canada and USA’s qualifiers for the 2013 IPC Swimming World Championships in August.

Live results can be found from the smart phone app "Hytek Meet Mobile" or on the event website.

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Jessica Long was the most successful US swimmer at the London 2012 Paralympic Games, and now has 17 total Paralympic medals to her name.