Millward sets backstroke world record in Sheffield

Stephanie Millward marked her first swim as an S8 swmimer with a 100m Backstroke world record at Ponds Forge.

The 34-year old is a five-time Paralympic medallist, having competed at the last two Games in the S9 classification.

But Millward, who has MS, was reclassified in June, and sent a warning shot to her new rivals in the S8 class.

She clocked 1:12.94 in the MC 100m Backstroke heats on day two of the 2016 British Summer Championships in Sheffield.

Millward breaks Heather Frederiksen’s seven-year old marker

While it was Millward’s third fastest time of the season, it was safely under Heather Frederiksen’s old S8 record of 1:14.36 from 2009.

Frederiksen won S8 100m Backstroke gold for GB at London 2012, retiring immediately after the Games.

And Millward will be hoping she can emulate Frederiksen’s success to lift her first gold medal at Paralympic level.

The Corsham swimmer’s time from Sheffield shoots her to the top of this year’s world rankings, more than six seconds faster than anyone else.

•  Click here to view results from the 2016 British Summer Championships in Sheffield.