Dias and Mullen to clash on day one at Glasgow 2015

The stage is set for more than 580 swimmers from nearly 70 countries to begin their World Championships campaign in Glasgow, Great Britain, on Monday (19 July), with the first day headlined by home-swimmer Andrew Mullen going for gold against multiple world and Paralympic champion Daniel Dias.

The pair will go head-to-head into the men’s 50m backstroke S5 with Mullen second to Dias in the 2015 rankings.

“Racing against Daniel is something I always enjoy,” Mullen said. “It’s really good to have to someone to race and challenge you. Tough racing really motivates me and I know getting on to those blocks I just want to give my all in that race.”

Mullen won European gold in Eindhoven, the Netherlands, in 2014 whilst Dias is the reigning world and Paralympic champion.

Here are some other highlights for the opening day of Glasgow 2015.

Women’s 400m freestyle S6

Also hoping to delight the home crowds is seven-time world champion Eleanor Simmonds.

The 20-year-old has won the 400m free at every Worlds and Paralympic Games since 2008 but Ukrainian Yelyzaveta Mereshko is currently faster in the world rankings.

Mereshko missed out on gold by quite a margin at Eindhoven 2014 but has pulled her season’s best time back to be more than 1.37 seconds ahead of Simmonds.

“For the racing it’s going to be really good to see where we are all at ahead of Rio next year,” Simmonds said. “I have some strong competitors in my events. I love racing and I have worked really hard in training leading up to this event."

The question is - has Simmonds been biding her time and doing just enough to stay in the top three before unleashing her full potential at Glasgow 2015.

Men’s 200m freestyle S3

This event sees the return of the most decorated athlete from the 2013 World Championships in Montreal, Canada - Ukrainian Dmytro Vynohradets.

The returning seven-time world champion was playing his cards very close to his chest in a recent interview with Paralympic.org, revealing little about his personal targets for Glasgow 2015.

But Vynohradets is threatened in this event by China’s Hanhua Li who missed the 2013 edition, and is only tenths away from the Ukrainian’s best.

Women’s 100m butterfly S8

The USA’s 19-time World Championships gold medallist Jessica Long gets her campaign underway without the threat of Great Britain’s Stephanie Slater, who withdrew just two weeks ago due to injury.

However Long’s relief will be short-lived as Ukrainian London 2012 silver medallist Kateryna Istomina, currently No.1 in the world, makes her bid to finally overtake the US legend at the Tollcross International Swimming Centre.

Other potential medals for Great Britain include Scott Quin in the men’s 100m breaststroke SB14 and James Crisp in the men’s 100m backstroke S9.

Tickets for the 2015 IPC Swimming World Championships are still available from as little as GBP 10/15 for heats/finals. Children under 16 go free (terms and conditions apply).

Live coverage from all seven days will be shown at Glasgow2015.com.