Close Finishes in Heats at Swimming Champs Day 6

Athletes finished within seconds of each other at the heats this morning for the 2010 International Paralympic Committee (IPC) Swimming World Championships in Eindhoven, the Netherlands.

In the Women’s 100m Backstroke (S12), Russia’s Anna Efimenko finished first in the second heat with 1:16.49, followed by Slovakia’s Karin Petrikovicova, who finished first in the first heat with 1:16.75. For the Men’s 100m Backstroke, USA’s Tucker Dupree finished in 1:04.52 in the first heat. The second heat saw Ukraine’s Maksym Veraksa first with 1:03.92.

In the Women’s 100m Freestyle (S5), Israel’s Inbal Pezaro finished first with 1:28.75, followed by Brazil’s Joana Maria Silva in the second heat with 1:32.25. In the Men’s event, the second heat saw the top two times from Brazil’s Daniel Dias with 1:16.03 and USA’s Roy Perkins with 1:16.03.

For the Men’s 50m Butterfly (S7), China’s Rong Tian took first with 32:13, followed by Australia’s Matthew Levy in the first heat with 32:68. The Women’s event, USA’s Mallory Weggemann took first with her time of 35.91, followed by USA’s Erin Popovich, who finished in 37.79 in the first heat.

Finals will take place tonight starting at 17:00 in the Pieter van den Hoogenband Swimming Stadium, with the Closing Ceremony taking place tomorrow.

Taking place from 15-21 August, a total of 649 athletes from 53 different countries are participating at the 2010 IPC Swimming World Championships in Eindhoven, the Netherlands. Competing inside the Pieter van den Hoogenband Swimming Stadium for the gold, silver and bronze medal in their respective event, the number of participating athletes and countries is one of the largest of any previous Swimming World Championships.