Morrison’s silver boosts Madeira medal tally
Conner Morrison took Britain’s medal tally to five in three days at the World Para Swimming European Open Championships in Madeira by retaining his silver in the Men’s SB14 100m Breaststroke.
The University of Aberdeen man won European silver in Dublin back in 2018, and he hinted at more podium success this time around after a strong showing in the heats.
Morrison found himself sixth at halfway of the final, but he built well from there, overtaking a duo of rivals to touch fourth overall but behind only Vasyl Krainyk of the Ukraine in the European stakes, with Brazilian pair Gabriel Bandeira and Joao Pedro Brutos de Oliveira in one-two.
Despite the strong finish, Conner hit the wall an agonising 0.2 seconds off the Paralympic consideration time in this event as he looks to earn selection for a maiden Games.
“I really didn’t expect to get the silver. I was going in here for the consideration time – I didn’t make it, but I’m still chuffed at the silver,” said Connor Morrison
Connor continued: “I hope greater things come my way in the future. These Europeans, I love the pool here, the staff have organised everything brilliant. I didn’t expect to see this many nations here either.”
Abby Kane was back in the pool on Tuesday morning after her first outing in Monday’s SB13 100m Breaststroke. This time, it was the Women’s S13 100m Freestyle for the North Ayshire athlete, who placed ninth in the heats to narrowly miss out on the final.
Her favoured event – the S13 100m Backstroke – comes on Wednesday. The fourth day of action will also see a first outing of the meet for Stephanie Millward, who is competing in the Women’s S9 100m Freestyle.
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Rescheduled from 12 months ago, the European Championships will provide athletes from across the continent with performance and classification opportunities relevant to them, three months out from the start of Tokyo 2020.
The competition runs from 16th-22nd May.
Race results and schedules are available HERE, while a live stream of the event will be running on World Para Swimming’s Facebook channel and website throughout the meet.
Britain’s eight-strong team, managed by British Swimming are:
Abby Kane, Stephanie Millward, Ellie Robinson – all medallists at Rio 2016 – and Northampton SC’s Will Perry will look to put in strong swims while undergoing the classification process across the meet.
Tom Hamer and Jessica-Jane Applegate – both earned two golds at the 2018 Europeans in Dublin. Both are progressing their competition preparations, with the Madeira event part of their agreed performance programmes ahead of Tokyo.
Mikey Jones (S7) and Conner Morrison (SB14) both narrowly missed out on consideration times in their respective favoured events of the 400m Freestyle and 100m Breaststroke at last month’s British Para-Swimming International Meet – and this European opportunity could provide a perfect chance for the pair to go under the standards to put them in contention for a spot in Paralympics GB’s squad when selections are confirmed later in the year.
Story courtesy of British Swimming.
Published 18th May 2021