Tokyo Paralympics preview: Swimming day 10

Sixteen finals to take place at the Tokyo Aquatics Centre to conclude the Paralympic Games action on 3 September in Japan 20 Aug 2021
Imagen
A woman with two raised hands, smiling on the podium
Dutch Para swimmer Lisa Kruger will be chasing Paralympic glory in the women's 200m individual medley SM10 on day 10 in Tokyo
ⒸBuda Mendes/Getty Images
By Filip Ozbolt | For World Para Swimming

The curtain will come down at the Tokyo Aquatics Centre on 3 September with 16 finals closing the Para swimming programme at the Paralympic Games.

The finals start at 5:00 PM (Tokyo time) with the men’s 200m individual medley SM10. Ukraine’s Maksym Krypak is again the favourite for gold in his class as the reigning world and European champion. He set the season-best result at the Madeira 2020 European Championships in May.

Italy’s Stefano Raimondi is the second-fastest man in 2021 also with a time set in Madeira where he had to settle for silver. It was a repeat of the London 2019 World Championships final with Krypak first and Raimondi second. Tokyo will be the chance for the Italian to change his fortune.

The women’s 200m individual medley SM10 final is a completely different story. Dutch duo Lisa Kruger and Chantalle Zijderveld have been swapping podium places in major championships.

Kruger took gold at the Dublin 2018 Europeans with Zijderveld. A year later, it was the opposite outcome at the London 2019 World Championships. Kruger also has the best time of the year with a result from a National competition in Amersfoort in late July. 

Zijderveld lies fourth in the 2021's ranking. Hungary’s Bianka Pap is the second-fastest this year from the race that gave her the European title at Madeira 2020 in May. Pap is also the Rio 2016 bronze medallist and a two-time World Championships medallist.

Other names who can make it to the podium on day 10 are Australia’s Jasmine Greenwood and Canada’s Aurelie Rivard. Greenwood is the third-fastest Para swimmer this year, while Rio 2016 silver medallist Rivard appears in fifth.

 

Men’s and women’s 100m backstroke S6

Next in the pool will be the men’s 100m backstroke S6 final. Croatia’s Dino Sinovcic is the reigning world champion from London in 2019 and a silver medallist from Madeira in May this year. He also has a gold medal from the Dublin 2018 Euros to his list of accolades. The Split-born Para swimmer is the fourth-fastest this year.

Hongguang Jia from China set the best time this year at the Berlin World Series in June. Argentina’s Matias de Andrade finished second in the same race setting the second-fastest time of 2021.

Laurent Chardard from France swam his best result of the season in Madeira where he won the European gold in front of Sinovcic. It was Chardard’s first international success in the event.

In the women’s 100m backstroke S6 final, there is one more Chinese contender for a gold medal. Lingling Song is the defending Paralympic champion and the world record holder. After the Paralympic crown in 2016, she won gold at the Mexico City 2017 Worlds and silver at the London 2019 Worlds.

Germany’s Verena Schott defeated Song to the world title in 2019. A year before she triumphed at the Dublin 2018 Euros, but had to settle for a silver medal in Madeira in May. She is the third-fastest woman this year behind USA’s Elizabeth Marks in first and Switzerland’s Nora Meister in second place.

Marks set her season-best time at the US National Trials in Minneapolis, while Meister did the same at the Madeira 2020 Euros where she won her first international gold in the event.

 

Men’s and women’s 100m butterfly S8

Greece’s Dimosthenis Michalentzakis is the first favourite for gold in the men’s 100m butterfly S8. He is the reigning world champion and back-to-back European champion. Like many other European Para swimmers, he set his fastest time at the Euros in Madeira in May and leads the 2021 rankings.

He is followed by Italy’s Alberto Amodeo and Mexico’s Luis Alberto Andrade. Amodeo was second at the Madeira 2020 Euros, while Andrade set his fastest time in Cancun in May.

China’s Haijiao Xu and Guanglong Yang will also be in the water. He is the silver medallist from Rio 2016 Paralympics and the Mexico City 2017 Worlds champion, while Yang won bronze in Rio and silver in Mexico City.

Michal Golus from Poland is another Para swimmer who could pose a threat to Mchalentzakis. He is the silver medallist from the Dublin 2018 Euros and a bronze medal winner from the London 2019 Worlds.

The women’s 100m butterfly S8 will be the last event for USA's Jessica Long in Tokyo. She is a two-time Paralympic champion from Beijing 2008 and London 2012. She added a bronze medal to her list at the Rio 2016 Paralympics. Long is also a five-time world champion and the owner of the fastest time this year. She set it at the Lewisville World Series in April.

RPC’s Viktoriia Ishchiulova is the second-fastest woman in 2021 setting her season-best at the Madeira 2020 Euros.

Alejandra Aybar, Dominican Republic’s first-ever Para swimmer to participate at the Paralympic Games, will take part in the morning heats hoping to qualifying for the final in her third and final appearance in Tokyo.

 

Men’s and women’s 50m butterfly S7

The men’s 50m butterfly S7 will put USA's London 2019 world champion Evan Austin head to head with Ukraine's Andrii Trusov, the European champion and fastest swimmer so far this year. Austin is second in the ranking.

Colombia’s Carlos Serrano is the third on the 2021 list. He is a two-time Parapan American Games champion, world champion from Mexico City in 2017 and a bronze medallist from London 2019.

Two-time Paralympic silver medallist and three-time World Championships medallist, Ukraine’s Yevhenii Bohodaiko is the fourth fastest this season. His best result in the 50m butterfly came at the Montreal 2013 World Championships where he topped the podium.

USA’s Mallory Weggemann has shown the best run of form in the women’s 50m butterfly S7 recently. She is the world record holder and the reigning world champion from London 2019. The 32-year-old released a book this year about her life and how she overcame adversity to become a Paralympian. She also found time to set the fastest result in the season at the US National Trials in June.

Italy’s Giulia Terzi is the reigning European champion and the second-fastest Para swimmer in 2021 posing a threat to Weggemann's intentions.

 

Men’s and women’s 50m backstroke S4

Czech Republic’s Arnost Petracek has high hopes for the men’s 50m backstroke S4. He is the defending Paralympic champion, two-time European title holder, and world champion from the Mexico City 2017 Worlds.

Petracek is the second-fastest in the event this year with the RPC’s Roman Zhdanov sitting in the first place. Zhdanov is the world record holder and reigning European champion. He also has a bronze from the London 2019 Worlds.

The women’s 50m backstroke S4 is most likely going to be a duel between Alexandra Stamatopoulou from Greece and Ukraine’s Maryna Verbova. Stamatopoulou is the reigning back-to-back European champion and the second-fastest woman in the event this year.

She also has a silver medal from the London 2019 Worlds where Verbova took gold. The Ukrainian Para swimmer appears in third place in this year’s rankings.

 

Men’s 100m butterfly S12, women’s 100m freestyle S11

The men’s 100m butterfly S12 will go next and it will be hard to appoint a favourite to gold with so many strong candidates. Great Britain’s Stephen Clegg is the world record holder and the fastest man in 2021. He won a silver medal at the London 2019 Worlds and a bronze medal at the Dublin 2018 Euros. The only thing missing on his list is the international gold.

Clegg’s main rivals in Tokyo will be two brothers competing for two different countries. Dzmitry Salei from Belarus took gold at the Madeira 2020 Europeans in May with Azerbaijan’s Raman Salei in second. They have the second and third best times this year, respectively.

Next up on the schedule in the Tokyo Aquatics Centre will be the women’s 100m freestyle S11. Dutch Para swimmer Liesette Bruinsma is the world record holder and the fastest in the race at the moment. Her impressive CV includes gold medals at the Dublin 2018 European and the London 2019 Worlds, alongside her Rio 2016 Paralympic bronze.

China’s Guizhi Li was silver in Rio de Janeiro and grabbed a bronze at London 2019. Li’s compatriot Jia Ma is the third-fastest in 2021.

USA’s 17-year-old Anastasia Pagonis squeezed in between Bruinsma and Jia in second place. The newcomer set her fastest time at the US National Trials in Minneapolis in June. RPC’s Sofiia Polikarpova is the reigning European champion and fourth in the rankings this year.

 

Men’s 200m freestyle S3, women’s 200m individual medley SM5

The last freestyle race at Tokyo 2020 will be the men’s 200m in the S3 class. Ukraine’s Denys Ostapchenko is the fastest man this year and the reigning European champion from Madeira in May. He has a silver medal from the London 2019 World Championships.

Mexico’s Jesus Hernandez is second in the rankings, while his compatriot Diego Lopez Diaz sits in third. They have both set their season-best at the Berlin World Series in June. Lopez Diaz is the current world champion in the event.

Italy’s Vincenzo Boni is the fourth-fastest this year. He took silver medal at the Madeira 2020 Euros.

Italy’s Monica Boggioni tops the ranking in the women’s 200m individual medley SM5. She set her best time in July at a competition in Naples. Japan’s Maori Yui has the second-best result this season while Natalia Shavel from Belarus is third.

 

Men’s 100m butterfly S11, men's 4x100m medley relay 34 pts

The last individual event at the Tokyo 2020 Paralympic Games will be the men’s 100m butterfly S11. The home crowd will be cheering for Keiichi Kimura and Uchi Tomita, the two fastest Para swimmers in the event this year.

Kimura has much more international success than his compatriot. The 30-year-old from Ritta is a two-time world champion and a two-time Paralympic medallist. He has a bronze medal from London in 2012 and a silver medal from Rio 2016. 

Ukraine’s Viktor Smyrnov is another medal candidate as the reigning European champion from Madeira. Rogier Dorsman from the Netherlands is third in the rankings in 2021. He set his season-best at the Berlin World Series in June.

The men's 4x100m medley relay 34 pts will close the Para swimming programme at Tokyo 2020. Team RPC is the favourite for gold as the reigning world and European champion but China will be defending their Rio 2016 title.

Italy will also come strong as the World and European Championships silver medallist.

All schedule, results and records from the Tokyo 2020 Paralympic Games will be available on Paralympic.org.

The next major Para swimming competition will be the World Championships in Madeira, Portugal from 12 to 18 June 2022.