Madeira 2024: Golden debut for Ellie Challis

Great Britain's Para swimming star Ellie Challis won her first European title as world records tumbled on the fourth day of the Madeira 2024 Para Swimming European Open Championships on Wednesday (24 April).

The 20-year-old, who is a Paralympic Games silver medallist and world champion in the women's 50m backstroke S3, made no mistake in the event in her European championships debut to add another major international gold medal to her collection. Targeting the event for the Paris 2024 Paralympic Games, Challis finished in 55.28, 4.29 seconds before neutral athlete Zoya Shchurova in second place as Marta Fernandez Infante from Spain clinched the bronze.

"It's such a special moment to come back here, I had such a special time the last time I raced here. The pool is lovely and I had a great swim, I hope that continues through this week," said Challis, who won a world title in Madeira two years ago.

Another one looking strong ahead of this year's Paralympic Games is Rogier Dorsman from the Netherlands, who continued his outstanding run at Madeira 2024. The Dutch 24-year-old made it four gold medals in four days as he claimed the men's 200m individual medley SM11 title with a new world record. 

He had been in second place halfway through the race but set off at a furious pace in the breaststroke. Not slowing down in the finishing 50 metres, Dorsman finished in 2:18.01 to claim the win by a five-metre margin, cutting 15 hundreds of a second off the previous record set by Ukraine's Danylo Chufarov in August last year. Laureus Awards nominee Chufarov clinched the silver medal 4.28 seconds behind the winner as Czech David Kratochvil completed the podium. 

"I didn't hear my tapper well so I thought he said I nearly missed it. But then he told it was a new world record so I am quite happy now," Dorsman said. "I was a bit surprised but it feels amazing. It's great to swim like this here in this pool, but keeping in my mind that we are halfway through the season and the main goal is Paris. I hope to swim under 2:18 there."

More world records

Dorsman's world record was one of three new ones set in an action-packed Wednesday of Para swimming on the Portuguese island. In the men's 100m backstroke S7, it happened twice. Turkey's Turgut Aslan Yaraman set a new world record of 1:07.91 in the heats, but it would only stand for a few hours as Andrii Trusov had not given up his chances in the final. 

The Ukrainian 24-year-old got ahead halfway through the race and gave everything he had to keep Yaraman behind him as the world record holder kept coming closer. Finishing almost side by side, Trusov managed to bag his third gold medal at Madeira 2024, 0.4 seconds before Yaraman, at the new world record time of 1:07.60. Trusov's teammate Yurii Shenhur took the bronze medal, 2.90 seconds behind the winner.

In the women's 200m individual medley SM11, neutral athlete Daria Lukanienko claimed the gold medal with a new world record of 2:38.47. It was her second title in a world record time in two days after Tuesday's 100m breaststroke SB11 triumph. The previous European record holder, Liesette Bruinsma from the Netherlands, took silver as Great Britain's Eliza Humphrey finished third.

Italy continued their successful run at Madeira 2024, where the Para swimming powerhouse is first in the overall standings after four days, on 33 medals including 14 golds. World and Paralympic champion Antonio Fantin defended his European title in the men's 400m freestyle S6 in a dominant fashion and was close to getting another fastest time in the world in an evening of several broken records.

The Italian 22-year-old freestyle specialist, for much of the race inside of Swedish Anders Olsson's world record time from 2009, finished in 4:48.71 – less than a second from the long-standing record. Neutral athlete Andrei Granichka, who clinched the silver, touched the wall 21.01 seconds behind the untouchable winner as Thijs van Hofweegen from the Netherlands took the bronze.

Fantin's teammates Monica Boggioni and Giulia Ghiretti produced an Italian one-two in the women's 200m individual medley SM5, where Sevilay Ozturk took the bronze. Ozturk, 20, who had taken Tuesday's 50m butterfly S5 gold medal ahead of Ghiretti, were in the lead halfway through the race but could not match the Italians in the second half as they passed her in the breaststroke and freestyle. Boggioni finished 10.50 seconds faster than her teammate and 20.21 before Ozturk.

Good day for Germany, Gascon

Germany, who are sixth in the overall medal table, had a strong day in the pool. Their Paralympic champion in the women's 100m breaststroke SB12, Elena Krawzow made no mistake in the event's final as she won in 1:13.38, 0.67 of a second from her almost five-year-old world record. The German winner touched the wall 8.30 seconds before runner-up Alessia Berra from Italy as South Africa's Alani Ferreira finished third.

Krawzow's teammate Gina Boettcher won a close race with Greece's Alexandra Stamatopoulou in the women's 50m backstroke S4 to take her second gold medal at Madeira 2024. The 23-year-old world No.1 got ahead in the finishing touch to beat her Greek rival by 14 hundredths of a second as Ukranian Maryna Verbova took the bronze.

Germany's Josia Tim Alexander Topf made a strong race in the men's 50m backstroke S3 final, but could not beat the winner Ukraine's Denys Ostapchenko, who took the gold medal in 46.55, 1.12 second before the German. France's Dimitri Granjux took the bronze.

Switzerland's Nora Meister and Great Britain's Maisie Summers-Newton battled it out in the women's 400m freestyle S6 final, both chasing their second gold medal of the championships. In the last 100m, Meister made a push to come into the final turn with a body length's lead. The British superstar could not respond as Meister retained her title in 5:21.15, with a winning margin of 3.19 seconds. 

Behind the front duo, Germany's Verena Schott and Great Britain's Grace Harvey raced for the bronze medal, once again with the British swimmer drawing the short straw as Schott finished third 13.21 seconds behind the winner, one hundredth of a second before Harvey.

After two bronze medals at Madeira 2024, in the women's 100m butterfly S9 and 200m individual medley SM9, Spain's Sarai Gascon got to climb to the top of the podium. The European record holder finished a close race 0.78 of a second ahead of her teammate Nuria Marques Soto in second place as Australia's Victoria Belando Nicholson finished third. It was Gascon's fourth straight European title, extending her run of medals in the event at seven consecutive European championships.

Vice world champion France's Ugo Didier took his second gold medal at Madeira 2024 as he won the men's 100m freestyle S9. World record holder Simone Barlaam from Italy had touched the wall first but got disqualified. 

Azerbaijan's Vali Israfilov retained his title in the men's 100m breaststroke SB12 in 1:06.71, beating Ukraine's world record holder Oleksii Fedyna by 1.46 seconds as neutral athlete Uladzimir Izotau took the bronze.

Complete schedule, results, records and all medallists from Madeira 2024 can be found here.