Manchester 2023: Legend Long bags 37th world title

The legendary Jessica Long swam to an incredible 37th world title on day six of the Manchester 2023 Allianz World Para Swimming Championships. 

It was Long’s second gold of the meet and fifth straight world championships title in this event, the women’s 200m individual medley SM8. 

"This feels so good. I actually almost pulled out of the race because I'm sick, but I'm really proud of myself that I just swam through it. It always feel so good to bring a medal to Team USA," Long added. "It feels pretty amazing. I think little Jess would be really proud.”

The U.S. star swimmer has been racing against the world’s best since she was 12 years-old, when she made her Paralympic Games debut in Athens 2004. Since then she has gone from strength-to-strength and has collected a whopping 54 World Championships medals and 29 Paralympic medals.  

The stars and stripes found the top of the podium also in the women’s 100m backstroke S9, when debutant Christie Raleigh-Crossley took the title from Spain’s Nuria Marques Soto by 0.23 seconds. After swimming the opening leg for Team USA in last night’s 4x100m medley relay 34pts, Raleigh-Crossley made quite the splash in her first individual final in Manchester.

Two more world records tumble

Ukraine continued their strong form on the penultimate night of the championships, bagging a further three gold medals. 

It was a blistering swim by Mykhailo Serbin, clocking a new world’s best time of 1:06.01, to retain his title in the men’s 100m backstroke S11. The gold for Serbin was his first of the meet, after taking bronze in the men’s 200m individual medley SM11 and 100m freestyle S11.

He was joined on the podium by Portugal’s Marco Meneses and the Dutch two-time gold medallist from these championships, Rogier Dorsman. The silver medal was the first of the two for the Portuguese team on Saturday. 

Ukraine also picked-up gold in the men’s 50m freestyle S7 (Andrii Trusov) and in the men’s 200m freestyle S3 (Denys Ostapchenko). Its a one hundred per cent golden success rate so far this week for Ostapchenko. 

There was plenty of drama in the penultimate event of the night, the mixed 4x100m medley relay S14. It was a very satisfying win for Australia as they got payback on Great Britain. Last year’s championships saw them being pipped to the line by a painful 0.01 seconds, which gave Great Britain the gold. This time, the Australian squad (comprising Paige Leonhardt, Jake Michel, Madeleine McTernan and Benjamin Hance) made sure that there would be no doubt of who the winners were, clocking a new world’s best time of 4:07.71. 

Australia also enjoyed a win in the men’s 100m freestyle S10, when Rowan Crothers powered to victory to deny Italy's Stefano Raimondi a fifth gold in Manchester.  

Home champions Challis and Summers-Newton

There was complete domination in the women’s 200m individual medley S3 as Great Britain's Ellie Challis claimed the crown by a staggering margin of more than 40 seconds. She took the title from the previous world champion, Leanne Smith of USA, who finished third, with Brazil’s Susana Schnarndorf taking the silver. 

The win was Challis’ third gold of the meet, after taking top spot in the women’s 50m breaststroke SB2 and 50m backstroke S3. 

“I know how ill Leanne [Smith] has been all year and to be able to tell her she got third, that she’s come here and got a medal after all she’s been through this year - to be able to see her reaction was special to me as we’ve raced against each other since 2019 and we’re good friends. I couldn’t have asked for a better Championships," Challis said.

The home crowd didn’t have to wait long for another win as Maisie Summers-Newton delivered the goods in the women’s 100m breaststroke SB6. The Brit blitzed to a new European record time, 1:31.34. 

It was a heart-warming scene at the medal ceremony as British Paralympian and household-name, Ellie Simmonds, awarded Summers-Newton her gold medal. 

"I absolutely adore the 100m Breaststroke, I’ve said that plenty times before that it’s my favourite so before this event I was excited and really happy - to touch the wall in a PB [personal best] time and get the gold I’m chuffed," Summers-Newton said.

For the first time in Manchester France's Portal brothers found themselves together in a final.

With one gold from the week already to his name, Alex Portal was one of the favourites heading into the men’s 400m freestyle S13 (he won the men’s 100m freestyle S13 on day three). He rose to the occasion to claim France’s first gold of the night. 

Having clocked such a speedy time, Alex had time to cheer on his younger brother Kylian, who battled it out for bronze. It was the first podium finish for the 16 year-old. 

"That's my third race and I was fourth, I was fifth and now third. So I'm really happy and also because [he] is champion of the world," Kyllian said pointing at his brother. "I'm really happy to share the podium with him."

Golden Saturday for 13 countries

Twenty-three countries added to their golden tally on day six. Yip Pin Xiu made it two-from-two for Singapore. Earlier on in the week she took the title in the women’s 100m backstroke S2 before winning tonight’s 50m backstroke S2. It was a dominant display by the world record holder as she took the title by over six seconds. 

Reigning Paralympic and world champion, Aurelie Rivard, was also on top form. The Canadian defended her title in the women’s 100m freestyle S10, with a time of 59.97. She is the only swimmer from her class to go under the one-minute mark this year.

Medal table leaders, Italy, claimed another four golds. It was a fourth title for Simone Barlaam (men’s 100m backstroke S9), a golden hat-trick for Carlotta Gilli (women’s 400m freestyle S13), a second gold for Monica Boggioni (women’s 200m freestyle S5) and a first Manchester 2023 gold for Francesco Bocciardo (men’s 200m freestyle S5). 

Hot on their tail, China took three golds. Victory was theirs in the women’s 100m backstroke S11 (Wang Xinyi), men’s 200m individual medley SM8 (Xu Haijiao) and in the men’s 100m breaststroke SB6 (Yang Hong). 

Brazil added another two golds to their collection, first in the men’s 50m backstroke S2, where Gabriel Geraldo dos Santos Araujo showed his dominance in the sprint events. They closed the night by successfully defending their crown in the Mixed 4x100m relay 49pts with an impressive performance from Maria Carolina Santiago - her fifth gold and seventh podium of the meet.

"This relay gold, with the support of my friends, can help me finish as the athlete with most medals in this competition. But we will only know on Sunday," said Santiago, who competes in the women's 200m individual medley SM13 on day seven. 

It was a second gold for Colombia thanks to 16 year-old Sara Vargas. She triumphed in the women’s 50m freestyle S7. Once again, Kamil Otowski struck gold for Poland, taking the title in the men’s 50m backstroke S1 (he also won the men’s 100m backstroke S1).

Complete results and all medallists of the Manchester 2023 Allianz Para Swimming World Championships can be found here.

Manchester 2023 heats and finals are being streamed live on World Para Swimming website and Facebook channel with geo-blocking restrictions in certain territories – you can find more information about where to watch the competition here. Pictures from Manchester 2023 are available for editorial use on Flickr.