Sheffield World Series: Golden end for hosts

Great Britain top medals table after winning seven medals on final day 04 Jun 2018
Imagen
a female swimmer smiles in the pool after winning her race

Great Britain's Tully Kearney won freestyle gold despite losing her goggles mid-race

ⒸGeorgie Kerr
By Ryan Wilson | For the IPC

Nothing could stop Great Britain’s dominance of the final day of the World Para Swimming World Series in Sheffield, Great Britain – even a pair of missing goggles!

In the women’s 200m freestyle British swimmer Tully Kearney lost her goggles mid-race, but was still able to swim her way to her first gold in Sheffield.

“It was really hard to see,” she said. “I just wanted to get my finish right.”

Kearney (S5, 997 points) led a British clean sweep of the podium, with compatriots Jessica-Jane Applegate (S14, 897) and Louise Fiddes (S14, 813) taking silver and bronze respectively.

Kearney then returned to the pool to set a new British record of 46.87 seconds in the women’s 50m backstroke. Brazil’s Edenia Garcia (S3, 645) took the gold ahead of Japan’s Mayumi Narita (S5, 507).

Kearney’s double medal success was the highlight of another strong showing from the home team in Sheffield, as Great Britain rounded off the competition with another seven medals.

British swimmers Thomas Hamer (S14, 979) and Jordan Catchpole (S14, 905) took gold and bronze, respectively, in the men’s 200m freestyle. Hong Kong’s Wai Lok Tang (S14, 949) was sandwiched in between the two swimmers for silver.

Hamer was ecstatic with his finish.

“In the heats, I was a second off the qualifying time, so I was a bit panicky,” he said. “I got back to the hotel and I was just thinking, ‘Tommy, you’ve got to the final, you’re up against some big boys. You can see what you do.’

“So I’m pretty happy.”

Great Britain’s Andrew Mullen (S5) won the last medal for the hosts on day four, with a silver in the men’s 50m backstroke. Defending World Series champion Daniel Dias of Brazil took the gold (S5, 916), with Hungary’s Zsolt Vereczkei (S5, 605) claiming bronze.

It was Dias’s third gold in Sheffield as he closes in on a successful defence of his World Series title.

“I’m very happy,” he said. “(It is a) great position for me.”

Golden tie

There was a dramatic finish to the women’s 400m freestyle, as Canada’s Aurelie Rivard’s and Germany’s Naomi Maike Schnittger finished tied for gold on 959 points each.

“It’s my first gold medal of the World Series, and I am quite happy to share it with Aurelie,” Schnittger said.

Netherlands’ Liesette Bruinsma (S11, 941) claimed bronze in the event for her second medal of the competition.

The World Series features multi-class races, with winners decided by an standardised points system. It concludes with the final event in Berlin, Germany from 7-10 June, where the 2018 World Series winners will be crowned.

Full results from Sheffield can be found here, and more information on the World Series is available on World Para Swimming’s website.