Citi World Series 2024: Marks and Chambers lead USA domination, Crispin steals show

The Citi Para Swimming World Series 2024 had another stunning action-packed weekend with world records broken and host nation securing the top spot in medal standings at the season’s fourth meet in Indianapolis, USA.

Ten out of 24 podiums were led by home athletes with two-time Paralympic champion Elizabeth Marks and six-time world medallist Olivia Chambers leading the medals charge for USA with two gold medals each. 

Marks (S6) finished first in the women’s 50m and 400m freestyle while Chambers (SB13/SM13) was the winner in the women’s 100m breaststroke and 200m medley.

Six other athletes had their contribution to the USA’s golden collection.

Among the female names are Paralympic champions Morgan Stickney (S7) and Mallory Weggemann (S7) who triumphed in the 100m freestyle and 50m butterfly respectively, while Grace Nuhfer completed the list with a victory in the 100m butterfly.

The male winners for USA were world champion Lawrence Sapp (S14) in the 100m butterfly, Noah Jaffe (S8) in the 400m freestyle, and Owen McNear (S9) in the 100m backstroke. McNear’s gold was special for him since it was the first time, the 18-year-old swimmer won in an international competition.

“I was sitting at fourth in time for the 100m backstroke event. I was like ‘I just want to go try and win this’. In every other event, I was like ‘I just got to go hard and see what I can do’ and I’ve done great.” McNear said.

“I came to this meet two years ago and didn’t have my international classification then. Now that I’m here at finals, I’ve gotten to really prove what I can do and I’m just glad I came away with some wins,” he added.

Near-Perfect performance

The USA were followed by Mexico and Colombia in the medals table.

And it was Colombia who pulled off an almost-perfect performance with Paralympic champion Nelson Crispin Corzo racing in five different events, winning four of them and medalled in the last one.

Corzo (S6/SB6/SM6) took the first place in the men’s 100m freestyle, 100m breaststroke, 50m butterfly, 200m medley, and finished third in the 50m freestyle. His victory in the 100m breaststroke event also saw him lowering nine hundredths on his own world record in the S6 class and set 1:18.07 as the new mark.

Sara Vargas Blanco (S7) was the only other Colombian medallist at USA 2024 as she grabbed a silver medal in the women’s 50m butterfly.

Mexican golds

The Mexican squad took home seven gold, two silver, and six bronze medals. The pivotal roles in this performance were played by two-time Paralympic champion Nely Herrera (SB4/SM4) alongside Paralympic medallist and world champion Cristopher Tronco (SB2/SM2) who clinched victory in the women’s and men’s 50m breaststroke and 150m medley respectively.

America Andrade (S14) won the women’s 200m freestyle, Karina Torres (S5) and Diego Lopez (S3) triumphed respectively in the women’s and men’s 50m backstroke event and completed the list of golden Mexican swimmers.

Canada, Chile, and Norway were the other nations that put up decent performances with their representatives topping the podium during the weekend – Shelby Newkirk (S6) in the women’s 100m backstroke; Alberto Abarza Diaz (S2) in the men’s 200m freestyle; and Fredrik Solberg (S9) in the men’s 50m freestyle.

The crowd at the IU Natatorium also witnessed a second world record being broken. It happened during the heats of the men’s 50m butterfly event with Canada’s Sebastian Massabie who set 39.51s as the new mark.

The full results of the Citi Para Swimming World Series USA 2024 can be found here.

Pause for the Euros

Post the USA meet, the Citi Para Swimming World Series 2024 takes a pause for the Madeira 2024 European Open Championships that will take place from 21 to 27 April in Funchal, Portugal.

The next country to host a world series competition is Singapore next month from 17 to 19 May followed by Germany with a meet to run in Berlin from 30 May to 2 June.

Before the Paris 2024 Paralympic Games, the Citi Para Swimming World Series will land in Limoges, France for races from 7 to 9 June.

The World Series 2024 will then resume in November with the second American meet in Mexico and Egypt in December.