Para swimmers are praised for ‘great performances’ at World Championships

Great Britain’s para swimmers have been praised for their ‘great performances’ at the World Para Swimming Championships 2019.

Team leader Chris Furber said he was ‘absolutely delighted’ with the results that saw Great Britain finish second in the medal table with a total of 47 – 19 golds, 14 silvers and 14 bronze.

The week-long event at the London Aquatics Centre saw a number of British swimmers set new world records on their way to victory.

And with less than a year to go until the Tokyo 2020 Paralympics, Furber said the event had been the perfect preparation.

He said: “From a performance perspective, I’m absolutely delighted with the way the team’s performed this week. 

“We’ve very much focused on two things. One was the process of making sure we swam hard in the heats and moved those things on in finals and we’ve achieved the goals we set in that area. 

“The other was very much ensuring we really rehearsed what we wanted to achieve and what we put in place for Tokyo in terms of the staffing model, how we’ve positioned ourselves and the culture we’ve had as a team.

“It is exactly what we’ve wanted to practice ahead of Tokyo. 

“I’m delighted we’ve come away from these Championships with great performances and really grown together as a team over the last seven days.”

The World Para Swimming Championships were switched to London in April after original hosts Malaysia were stripped of the right to stage the event.

Furber added: “We are very grateful that we even had a World Championships as five months ago we were staring down the barrel of a gun and not having any Worlds in this cycle.

“So we are eternally grateful for all the stakeholders, UK Sport, British Swimming, LLDC and the City of London for pulling this event together at such short notice.”

Main photo: British Swimming/Twitter

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