Mexico City 2017: Double win for Jessica Long takes world title total to 25
Chinese swimmers claim seven golds and two world records are set on day two of Championships 04 Dec 2017The USA's multiple Paralympic champion Jessica Long cruised to victory in her two events to take her world title tally to 25 on day two (3 December) of competition at the World Para Swimming Championships in Mexico City.
The 25-year-old first won the women's 100m breaststroke SB7 with a time of 1:35.48, comfortably ahead of Mexico's Naomi Somellera Mandujano (1:41.27) and Czech Republic's Vendula Duskova (1:47.23).
Long (1:06.82) followed that up with another gold in the women's 100m freestyle S8. Brazil's Cecilia de Araujo (1:08.96) and USA's Julia Gaffney (1:13.80) completed the top-three.
Chinese dominance
In a thrilling women's 50m backstroke S4 final, Jiao Cheng clocked a world record of 46.51 to finish first slightly ahead of Italy's Monica Boggioni, who set a European record of 46.86. China's Yue Deng (52.76) finished third.
China claimed seven world titles on day two to lead the medals table with a total of 10 golds, two silvers and three bronze. Haijiao Xu (4:29.41) won the men's 400m freestyle S8 ahead of USA's Robert Griswold (4:41.40) and Argentina's Inaki Basiloff (4:53.94).
There was a Chinese one-two in the men's 100m freestyle S8, with Xu again emerging as triumphant with a time of 58.45. He was followed by his compatriot Guanglong Yang (1:00.56) and Mexico's Luis Andrade (1:00.97).
Lingling Song (1:47.34) won gold in the women's 100m breaststroke SB5, adding to the title she had won in the 400m freestyle S6 the day before. Vietnam's Thi Bich Nhu Trinh (1:57.66) took silver and Iceland's Thelma Bjorg Bjornsdottir (1:59.25) bronze.
Another title for China came in the women's 100m backstroke S11 through Liwen Cai (1:21.99). USA's McClain Hermes (1:26.38) and Mexico's Matilde Alcazar Figueroa (1:29.12) completed the podium.
Qiuping Peng (52.51) added another gold to China's tally in the women's 50m backstroke S3. Brazil´s Edenia Garcia (56.17) and Greece's Alexandra Stamatopoulou (56.26) ended second and third, respectively.
Their final title of the day came through Xihan Xu (42.79), who caused a major upset in the women's 50m butterfly S5 by defeating Norway's four-time Paralympic champion Sarah Louise Rung (43.77). Italy's Giulia Ghiretti (48.41) collected bronze.
Home crowd celebrates
Mexican fans enjoyed success through Diego Lopez Diaz, who claimed gold in the men's 50m backstroke S3 with a Championships record time of 46.38. Italy's Vincenzo Boni (47.86) and China's five-time Rio 2016 champion Wenpan Huang (48.88) followed.
More records fall
Cheng was not the only world record breaker on day two. Spain's Antoni Ponce (1:28.57) also set a world record in the men's 100m breaststroke SB5. He was followed by Sweden's Karl Forsman (1:36.60) and Vietnam's Thanh Hai Do (1:42.58).
Two other Championships records were broken by Czech Republic's Amost Petracek (43.35) in the men's 50m backstroke S4 and Colombia's Nelson Crispin (1:19.41) in the men's 100m breaststroke SB6.
World Series
Prior to the start of the evening session, the champions of the inaugural World Series were awarded. Daniel Dias (men's), Monica Boggioni (women's), Alberto Abarza (men's S/SB 1-3 High Support Needs) and Zulfiya Gabidullina (women's S/SB 1-3 High Support Needs) attended the ceremony. Germany's Tobias Pollap also got a special award for attending the most World Series events (4).
More information on the World Para Swimming Championships, including live coverage, results and athlete profiles can be found on Mexico City 2017’s website.