Sascha Kindred improves European record at the 2011 British Gas Swimming Championship
Six-time Paralympics gold medallist, Sascha Kindred, improved the European record for the 50m butterfly in the second session on the fifth day at the 2011 British Gas Swimming Championship. The championship is being conducted at the Manchester Aquatics Centre
and is a trial basis for Britain’s swimming team selection for the 2011 Shanghai World Championships.
The 50m butterfly was Kindred’s main event and he seemed to have a good grip from the very start of the race. Sascha won the MC 50m butterfly in a record time of 32.23 seconds and scored 872 points for his swim.
The previous European record was also set by Kindred last year, with a timing of 32.36 seconds at 2010 International Paralympics Committee’s (IPC) World Championships.
Kindred felt very happy with his first swim of the week and added that the win has provided him great confidence. He said, “I’ve had a good taper so I really wanted to try and qualify. I’ve beaten the record so I can’t do more than that.”
Sascha was followed by S7 Matthew walker in a time of 32.93 seconds, who scored 784 points. The third position was secured by S7 Sam Bradley, who scored 580 points and touched the wall in a time of 36.41 seconds.
In the Women’s event in the same category, Natalie Jones lowered her own British Record with 0.01 seconds, touching the wall in a time of 41.89 seconds. With her fastest swim, she was able to score 773 points.
After lowering the record, she expressed her happiness and said, “To beat the record is amazing and sets me up for the rest of the week. It will be good to race against Ellie as she’s my biggest rival and I’m really looking forward to it.”
Jones was followed by S7 Susannah Rodgers, who scored 690 points for her second position and touched home in a time of 39.01 seconds. S6 Jan Langton finished third in 46.34 seconds and scored 571 points.
In the Women’s 100m butterfly, Rhiannon Henry S13 finished in a qualification time for the European Championships. She touched the wall in a time of 1:08.45 minutes and scored 894 points. She was followed by Stephanie Millward S9 and Eleni Papadopaulos S10,
who finished second and third in a time of 1:13.62 and 1:16.08 minutes, respectively. They both scored 745 and 716 points in their respective events.
Another Paralympics medallist, Dave Ellis S13, took the title of the Men’s 100m butterfly in a wonderful time of 1:03.39 minutes. He successfully grabbed 738 points for his first position and was followed by James Hollis S10 and Rob Welbourn S10, in the
second and third places, respectively. Hollis scored 735 points in a time of 1:02.04 minutes against Welborun’s 699 points in 1:03.09 minutes.
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