Great Britain Shines on Day 3 of Swimming European Championships

Athletes from Great Britain held strong performances in the pool, giving them many top positions in day three of the 2009 IPC Swimming European Championships.

In the Men's 400m Freestyle (S8), Sam Hynd from Great Britain took first place with his time of 4:27.69. Finishing 10.74s behind Hynd was Christoph Burkard from Germany, followed by Sean Fraser from Great Britain. In the Women’s 400m Freestyle (S8), Great Britain's Heather Frederiksen finished first with her time of 4:49.79. Germany's Julia Kabus came in second place, and Lisa Den Braber from the Netherlands took third place.

In the Women's 50m Freestyle (S6), Great Britain's star athlete Eleanor Simmonds took first with her time of 36.85. Simmonds was followed by compatriot Natalie Jones and Germany's Tanja Groepper respectively. For the Men’s 50m Freestyle (S6), Sweden's Anders Olsson took the top spot with his time of 31.54. Olsson was followed by Spain's Daniel Vidal by just under a minute, with Greece's Christakis Panagiotis coming in third.

A European record was set in the Men's 50m Backstroke (S3) by Ukraine's Dmytro Vynohradets with his time of 50.54s. Coming in second and third respectively were Spain’s Miguel Angel Martinez and Sweden’s Mikael Fredriksson. In the Women's 50m Backstroke, Germany's Annke Conradi took first with her time of 1:13.49. She was followed by Spain's Amaia Zuazua del Estal and Greece's Semicha Rizaoglou respectively.

At the moment, Great Britain is ranked number one in the competition, followed by Ukraine. Russia and Germany are tied for third place, with France and Sweden in fourth and fifth respectively.

The 2009 IPC Swimming European Championships continue in Reykjavik, Iceland, through 24 October. The event has a total 650 athletes and staff in the Nordic country, along with 37 participating countries.