Sheffield World Series: Delight for Daniel Dias

Brazil’s Daniel Dias (S5) strengthened his grip on the World Series top spot as he made it two golds in two days on Friday (1 June) at the World Para Swimming World Series in Sheffield, Great Britain.

Dias (1004 points) nabbed the top prize in the men’s 50m freestyle, his quick start sealing gold just ahead of compatriot Phelipe Rodrigues (S10, 933) and Colombia’s Nelson Crispin (S6 ,911). Nelson now has three medals in two days, the most of any swimmer in the competition.

Netherlands’ Liesette Bruinsma (SM11 ,971) grabbed the gold medal in the women’s 200m individual medley. Uzbekistan’s Fotimakhon Amilova (S13) took a surprise silver (963) ahead of Great Britain’s multi-Paralympic champion Ellie Simmonds (S6, 942).

“I had a lot of bad points in the heat, and I wanted to improve that in the final.” Bruinsma said. “And I did it.”

Bruinsma added that she is aiming to swim faster in the Dublin 2018 World Para Swimming Allianz European Championships later this summer.

In the women’s 50m freestyle, New Zealand’s Paralympic champion Sophie Pascoe (S10) took the gold. Her Canadian rival Auriele Rivard (S10, 934) came in second, with Great Britain’s Hannah Russell (S12, 912) rounding off the podium.

Colombian Carlos Serrano Zarate (S7) bounced back from Thursday’s disqualification to win a dominant gold in the men’s 200m individual medley (924 points). Japan’s Dai Tokairin (S14) took silver (915), with Netherlands’ Marc Evers (S14, 908) claiming bronze.

USA’s Curtis Lovejoy (SM2) ended the day with a dramatic gold in the men’s 150m individual medley, beating Japan’s Takaymi Suzuki (SM4) by a single point (660 to 659).

Lovejoy was all smiles when he received his medal.

“We are just trying to get better and get faster [for Tokyo 2020],” he said.

In the women’s race Brazil’s Susana Ribeiro (S5) took the gold medal (621) ahead of Germany’s Gina Boettcher (SM4, 500).

The Sheffield World Series continues on Saturday (2 June) in the World Para Swimming World Series in Sheffield with Brit Bethany Firth (S14) taking her talents to the women’s 100m backstroke. Evers, Brazil’s Andre Brasil (S10) and Hungary’s Bence Ivan (SB6) will highlight the men’s side of the 100m backstroke.

The men’s and women’s 100m butterfly will round off Saturday, with the men’s race featuring one of the day’s most anticipated showdowns as Serrano Zarate and Evers face off.

The World Series features multi-class races, with winners decided by an standardised points system.

All events in Sheffield are being live streamed on World Para Swimming’s website, and live results are available here.