UKSA Ambassadors and Reps shine at Paralympic Swimming Trials
GB Swimmers Bethany Firth and Tom Hamer broke records yesterday as they achieved consideration times for the 2016 Rio Paralympics at the British Para-Swimming International Meet in Glasgow.
Despite missing the IPC World Championships last year due to injury, Firth was amazing as she broke her own world record in the S14 200m freestyle with a time of 2:03.70. She was rewarded with the gold medal with a final score of 975.
Firth has also achieved consideration times for the 100m breaststroke and 100m backstroke for the Rio Games.
Rising star Tom Hamer also had an impressive day by breaking the S14 British record in the 200m Freestyle in the final heat with a time of 1:57.27. He was able to secure gold at the end of the day with a score of 969.
Hamer achieved the consideration times he needed for the men’s S14 200m Freestyle for the Rio Games.
Alongside Bethany Firth and Tom Hamer, GB Swimmer Aaron Moores, Jessica Jane Applegate, and Scott Quin make up the reminding members of S14 swimmers (learning disability class) on the Great Britain’s Performance squad.
GB swimmer Aaron Moores had a stand out performance by breaking the men’s 100m SB14 breaststroke world record twice with a time record of 1:06.49 in the heats and 1:06.33 in the final. He took home gold with 1,016 points and achieved a time that sits under qualification time.
GB swimmer Jessica Jane Applegate finished behind Firth in the S14 200m freestyle taking the silver medal with a time of 2:05.63. This time puts her into consideration for Rio as well.
Scottish swimmer Scott Quin met qualifying Rio standards for the SB14 in the 100m breaststroke as he finished the final race with a silver medal and recording a personal best of 1:06.97.
Swansea star Chloe Davies put together a strong performance in the S14 200m freestyle as took the bronze medal behind Bethany Firth and Jessica-Jane Applegate with a recorded time of 2:13.26 and 814 points.
Jack Thomas finished 7th in the 100M Freestyle with a score of 763. Katie Nesbit had a solid performance with coming in 11th place with a score of 712 in the 100M backstroke.
Tracey McCillen, Chief Executive of UK Sports Association, commenting on the results said, “Congratulations to all of the para-swimmers. It’s an enormous achievement and illustrates the great potential of athletes with learning disability.’
‘Spare a thought though for those that didn’t quite make the times. Competitive performance opportunities still exist at Inas level could support their elite development. This pathway lacks the recognition from Government, UK Sport, and some NGBs. This undermines its very existence and that needs to change.”