Sarah Louise Rung yearns to be world-record holder in Montreal

Despite being a world and Paralympic champion, Norway’s Sarah Louise Rung has her eyes on another prize at the IPC Swimming World Championships. 05 Mar 2012

A picture of a woman in a wheelchair showing her gold hanging around her neck

Norway's Sarah Rung won the gold medal inhe women's 50m butterfly S5 final at the London 2012 Paralympic Games.

ⒸGetty Images

By IPC

“I think the race I have the best chance of winning is the 200m freestyle. But you can never be sure. I have to race it first and then we can analyse the times.”

Norway’s Sarah Louise Rung, a two-time Paralympic and three-time world champion, will fly to Montreal, Canada on Thursday (8 August) with the intention of leaving with five medals in her pocket.

And, she just as importantly, she said, a world-record holder.

The IPC Swimming World Championships will kick off on Monday (12 August), and Rung will be joined in the Montreal pool by her three strongest competitors for the first time since London 2012 – Spain’s Teresa Perales, Ukraine’s Nataliia Prologaieva and Israel’s Inbal Pezaro.

Rung said all of them are friends outside of competition, but as soon as they hit the water, it’s game on.

Of her five events, Rung prefers the 100m breaststroke S4 and 200m individual medley SM5, which happen to be the two she finished second in at the last Paralympics.

But just because she prefers them doesn’t mean they are the ones she has the best chance of winning gold in.

“I think the race I have the best chance of winning is the 200m freestyle,” Rung said. “But you can never be sure. I have to race it first and then we can analyse the times.”

Currently, Rung holds the Paralympic title in the 200m freestyle S5, as well as the 50m butterfly S5. She also holds the world title in both events, as well as the 100m breaststroke S4.

However, while both Prologaieva and Perales can call themselves world-record holders, Rung cannot.

The 23-year-old said she will swim for medals, personal bests and world records in as many of her events as she can in Montreal. She will begin her campaign with the 50m butterfly S5 on the first day of the championships, and will race both the 100m breaststroke SB4 and 200m freestyle S5 on the second day.

She will then have a day off before the 200m individual medley SM5, and then another before the 100m freestyle S5.

All of her finals can be watched live on ParalympicSport.TV.