Five gold medals for the Brits on day two
5th August 2014
On day two of the IPC Swimming European Championships the British Gas GBR Para-Swimming team secured five gold medals and a total of eight medals through the two sessions.
Ollie Hynd, Hannah Russell and Stephanie Millward all won gold on the second morning of racing at the competition.
Hynd, who has come straight from winning silver at the Commonwealth Games, swam a well paced S8 400m Freestyle.
The Paralympic Champion went into the lead early on and continued to dominate the field and secured his first European gold of the competition with a time of 4:31.66.
“I am really proud and happy with my swim,” Hynd said. “It was nice to kind of redeem myself from last night because I was obviously disappointed with that swim but it felt really good to be back on the podium today.
“I think in a way I am quite privileged to have had the chance to race at a big event before coming into this meet. I’ve taken the positive aspects of my swim from the Commonwealths and tried to use that here.”
Josef Craig scored his first ever European medal with bronze in a new personal best time of 4:38.41. Denis Tarasov (Russia) won silver in 4:33.67.
World Champion Hannah Russell, who has recently moved training base to the National Performance Centre in Manchester, won gold in the S12 100m Backstroke.
Russell shaved half a second off her personal best to score the victory in a time of 1:08.29.
“I had no idea where I was in the race because I am visually impaired so I just try to keep it together with what I’ve been doing in training and obviously it’s paid off,” Russell said. “It’s fantastic I’ve come away as European Champion. It’s a dream come true.
“It’s my birthday so to come away with a gold medal is the best birthday present I could have asked for.”
Silver went to Darya Stukalova (Russia) in 1:09.28 and bronze was won by Oxana Savchenko (Russia) in 1:12.07.
Stephanie Millward claimed the title in the S9 400m Free to complete the hat trick of gold medals this morning.
Millward and Amy Marren were stroke for stroke for the first half of the race but Millward had a strong back end to seal the victory.
She touched in 4:41.99 with Marren taking silver in 4:47.66.
“I enjoyed swimming that,” Millward said. “It was really quite easy. It was a perfect race for the first race so very good. My PB is the European record of 4:40 and I just went a 4:41 which is not too bad for a 400.
“I have the 100m Backstroke on Saturday which I am really looking forward to after that swim.”
Nuria Marques Soto (Spain) took the bronze in 5:01.95.
Susie Rodgers started the evening finals with a bang for the Brits with her second gold medal and a new personal best in the S7 50m Freestyle.
Rodgers, who won silver in this event at the 2011 European Championships, looked controlled through the race and touched in a time of 33.50.
“I am really pleased with that time and the fact that I got that gold in that race which isn’t really one of my main events,” Rodgers said. “It’s a real bonus for me and it shows that the hard work on sprints has been paying off.
“the 50s are always about just going for it. It’s always head down, go for it and go for the wall. I did quite a good heat swim and it was backed up by going faster in the final which is all you can ask for too.”
Silver was won by Denis Grahl (Germany) who finished 0.2 seconds behind Rodgers in 33.71. Kirsten Bruhn (Germany) won the bronze in 36.13.
Competing at his sixth European Championships, Sascha Kindred won the gold in the S6 50m Butterfly.
The World Champion moved into the lead at the half way point and scored the gold medal in a time of 32.71.
“To win gold feels really good,” Kindred said. “I have been to six European Championships now and to still be at the top is great. I am still keeping the youngsters behind me and I am really happy to be performing the way I am and still going quick.
“Performing in that sort of racing and doing a relatively good time, even though I am a little bit disappointed puts you at ease for the rest of the meet so I can really focus on my other races and try and get some quick times.”
Russia’s Sergey Klyagin won silver almost a second behind the Brit in 33.41 and Sebastian Iwanow (Germany) took bronze in 36.71.
World Champion Matt Walker secured silver in the S7 50m Freestyle after touching in a time of 28.19.
James Hollis finished in fourth place in the S10 100m Butterfly with a new British record time of 58.74. Gemma Almond and Eleni Papadopolous finished in fifth and sixth place respectively in the S10 100m Butterfly.