British swim duo miss out on gold
Mallory Weggenmann, the American swimmer took on the British athletic duo Charlotte Henshaw and Liz Johnson on the 16th of August, the second day of the IPC World Championships here in Holland.
The Swimming World Championships are scheduled to take place from the 16th to the 23rd of August in Eindhoven, Holland.
Both the British athletes, Henshaw and Johnson, were hoping to win a gold medal when they came into their breaststroke final. Henshaw had improved her own timings, which was a world record, in the heats while Johnson was the Paralympic champion.
Henshaw’s world record was met by Weggemann, who took over the field by finishing four seconds before the world record time set by her British counterpart. She made it to first place. Henshew finished in the second spot and Johnson in the third.
Although disappointed with her performance, Henshew was determined to learn from her mistakes and decided to take away the positive outcomes of the race. She further added that she would not complain about not setting a world record in the breaststroke like she did in her first World Championships in the heats. She called this particular race 'a tremendous one to compete in'.
After winning the gold medal in the 400 metre freestyle race on Sunday, this was Weggemann’s second gold medal of the championships. She managed to break her own world record by finishing eight seconds earlier than the time mark she set last year.
The 21 year old American athlete has endured paralysis that was caused after she faced complications during an epidural treatment for her back pains. She is otherwise a capable and able bodied swimmer. Her talent has been recognized by the US Paralympic squad and she has emerged as a star for them. She will be a force to be reckoned with, and one of the best swimmers of the world in 2010.
Johnson, her competitor said that she was prepared to see Weggemann’s great performance because she witnessed her competing at the World Short Course championships 2009 in Rio. She went on to say that she feels perfect physically since she has been practicing, but her main issue is that she is missing the spark to make it to the top position. She wishes to regain that top gear and is glad to have Charlotte swimming against her as her local rival. Charlotte is a driving force for both Johnson and Weggemann.
Claire Cashmore and Louise Watkin were able to finish the contests with second places and thus managed to grab silver medals. The former got one on the breaststroke which she was able to finish behind the Russian Paralympic champion Olesya Vladykina, while the latter finished in the second spot behind the South African great swimmer Natalie du Toit in the medley race. They were later met by Stephanie Millward and Ellie Simmonds respectively, and finished in second place in the 4 into 100 metre USA freestyle relay.
The 26 year old athlete, Du Toit, is the winner of nine Paralympic gold medals. During her athletic career, she contested in the open water event at the Beijing Olympics and has recently reported that she would be retiring after she plays at the Paralympics 2010, London.
When talking to a sports correspondent, she said that she will be taking part in the 2010 Olympics and all the other water sports events including the 2010 Paralympics and will take home a medal. Moreover she said that she knows it will not be easy for her to win a gold in the backstroke and the breaststroke, but taking part in all seven races is in itself a great challenge for her. She hopes for the best.
On the other hand, Britain’s men swimming team grabbed the bronze medal in the 4 into 100 metre freestyle relay. They were led by Australia in the first place and Brazil finishing in the second spot.
Tags: