As expected of their journeys towards the World Championships in September, elite para swimmers thrilled the crowd at the OCBC Aquatic Centre this morning, as they broke 2 regional records and achieved performances close to breaking world records during the first heats of the Series.
Liu Daomin (CHN) took over the Asian Record for Women’s 100m Breaststroke SB6 with the result of 1:36.05 (980 points), shaving more than 9 secs from previous record holder’s, Chen Shuling (CHN), timing of 1:45.59. Americas Record holder for Women’s 100m Butterfly S9, Elizabeth Smith (USA) surpassed her previous Personal Best and set a new Americas Record when she finished with a timing of 1:08.78 (925 points).
Another prominent swimmer, New Zealand’s most bemedalled Paralympian Sophie Pascoe (NZD) also lived up to the crowd’s expectations when she placed first in the Women’s 100m Backstroke and the Women’s 100m Freestyle with 1026 points (1:09:67) and 1005 points (1:02:13) respectively. Pascoe was the only swimmer who obtained *more than 1000 points during the heats.
Team Singapore put up a good fight, with three swimmers advancing to the A finals this afternoon and 10 new Personal Bests. Danielle Moi (SB14/S14) advanced to the A Finals for Women’s 100m Butterfly and Women’s 100m Freestyle with the results of 794 points (1:13:91) and 755 points (1:08:16) respectively. Yip Pin Xiu (S2) advanced to the Women’s 100m Backstroke A Finals with the result of 796 Points (2:20.25). Refreshing his personal best with a timing of 1:03:13, Toh Wei Soong advanced to the Men’s 100m Freestyle Finals A with 957 points, a result that placed him first out of 72 swimmers for the event.
*Pascoe did not break any World Records, although she achieved more than 1000 points in the events.
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