Preparation for Manchester continues as para-swimmers win ten medals in Berlin

Great Britain’s para-swimmers continued their preparation for the World Championships in Manchester by winning 10 medals at the sixth leg of the CTI Para Swimming World Series in Berlin, Germany.

A talented group of British athletes headed to the German capital with 22 members of the World Championships squad amongst those competing at the Schwimm-und Sprunghalle in the Europasportpark (SSE) from 11-14 May.

The four days of action saw a busy programme of multi-classification racing with the likes of Maisie Summers-Newton, Ellie Challis and William Ellard amongst the 29-strong British contingent.

And it was Summers-Newton who got her competition off too an impressive start after coming away with World Series silver on the opening night.

The SB6 swimmer set a time of 1:32.41 in the Women’s 100m Breaststroke final which earnt her 932 points.

That was just 15 points off the title that she won at the World Series event in Sheffield back in March but despite an improvement in her time, Germany’s Elena Krawzow narrowly outscored her for gold.

It was the second time that Summers-Newton had taken to the pool on the night after she placed fifth in the 200m Freestyle earlier in the session.

Rebecca Redfern and Grace Harvey also impressed in the 100m Breaststroke, finishing 13^th and 15^th respectively.

Scottish swimmer Samuel Downie set a new S8 200m Backstroke British record of 2:30.83 as he won IDM Berlin open bronze during the first finals session.

Ellard doubles up

William Ellard continued his breakout year as he won two medals in as many days.

The St Felix Schools Swimming Club athlete started out by winning silver on Friday in the Men’s 100m Freestyle.

He set a time of 53.07 as he just held off his teammate Jordan Catchpole by 0.20.

Catchpole made it a double British podium for the S14 swimmers with Ellard scoring 868 points and Catchpole 859 for their efforts.

Ellard then added a second silver in the 50m Freestyle and also placed fifth in the 200m Freestyle as he continued his fine form ahead of his World Championships debut.

Ellie Challis added another sprint medal to the British collection with silver in the Women’s 50m Breaststroke.

She set a time of 1:08.21 as she prepares to defend her SB2 50m Breaststroke crown in Manchester.

Brock Whiston also got on to the podium as she won IDM Berlin Open bronze in the Women’s 200m Butterfly.

Stephen Clegg was arguably the star of the meet. He set a new world record in the S12 Men’s 50m Backstroke as he became the first swimmer of his class to swim under the 28 second mark in the event.

His time of 27.79 saw him win World Series gold in the mixed class event which he then added to with another gold in the 100m Backstroke and bronze in the 50m Butterfly.

He also anchored Great Britain’s 4x100m Mixed Freestyle relay team as they got some vital race prep.

The quartet of Scarlett Humphrey, Clegg, Rebecca Redfern and Matthew Redfern set a time of 4:14.52 to finish second with a score of 660 points to win IDM Berlin silver.

There were also some senior British World Series debutants out in Germany.

The visually impaired-trio of Luke Boyles, Alfie Penford and Astrid Carroll all got the opportunity to step up to world level competition for the first time.

The event will have given them a valuable learning experience in the fast swimming environment.

You can find all the results from the Para Swimming World Series event in Berlin here, and you can watch the event back via sportdeutschland.tv.