Double podium completes medal haul on super Saturday in Paris

A double podium from Paralympics GB’s Poppy Maskill and Louise Fiddes added to a memorable night at the Paralympic Games.

Following three golds from Alice Tai, William Ellard and Stephen Clegg the British medal count on day three was completed by Maskill and Fiddes’ double in the Women’s S14 200m Freestyle final.

A British trio of Maskill, Fiddes and Olivia Newman-Baronius battled it out for the final two medal spots as Valeriia Shabalina went out quickly and held on to take the crown.

It was the second time in three nights that the three Brits lined up in the same final following the 100m Butterfly final on the opening night where Maskill took gold.

They all put in strong displays once again in Paris but neither of them could quite draw back in the neutral Paralympic athlete who won in a time of 2:05.10.

Maskill and Fiddes swapped positions in the early stages but Maskill ended up being the closest challenger, finishing 2.06 seconds off the gold in second to win her second medal at her debut Games.

Newman-Baronius finished strongly but was just slightly behind her teammates as Fiddes won her first medal in Paris with bronze, clocking in at 2:07.91.

Speaking after the race, both Maskill and Fiddes were delighted to get onto the podium.

Maskill said: “It was a really, really hard race but I’m happy with that silver so that’s good.

Fiddes added: “I’m over the moon, my family are up there celebrating and it’s just so sweet, it’s so special. I think they’ve been well behaved too so that’s good.”

When asked about Shabalina’s quick start, Fiddes was surprised and thought that the Brits would have the chance to get back at her after an all GB top three in the heats earlier in the day.

“She went out a lot faster than I anticipated,” she said.

“I thought I still had it but the back end it just hurt. You (Maskill) were right there too but I’m so happy with bronze.

“It gives you so much confidence [racing alongside teammates]. You know that we’re a team at the end of the day, and it was lovely being in the call room with them, hyping each other up before the race.”

Iona impresses and Scarlett’s strong swim

Elsewhere on night three, there was an incredible debut for 13-year-old Iona Winnifrith in the Women’s SM7 200m Individual Medley.

The youngest member of the entire GB contingent in Paris marked her first event of the Games with a fourth place finish and a European record as she narrowly missed out on the medals.

The Ealing Swimming Club star, clocked in with a time of 3:03.25 as the European champion powered through the field in the breaststroke and freestyle legs.

It saw her finish less than two seconds off bronze with the USA’s Mallory Weggemann taking the gold in a Paralympic record time of 2:53.29.

Speaking about her Paralympic debut, Winnifrith said: “I’m really happy. I just wanted to do a PB – I didn’t expect that.

“Of course fourth is a little disappointing, but I’m still really happy. This is just a warm-up event for me, so to do that time is really good!

“It’s all been pretty cool! I’ve never swam in an arena this big and the atmosphere is crazy! I watched the Olympics so I had an idea of what the noise would be like and the arena, and it’s all been pretty cool.

“Everyone has been coming back with their medals, and it’s just made me even more confident. We’ve got such a great team, a big team – I’m really close with Maisie and some of the older ones. Three weeks away from home can be quite hard, but now we are like a family.”

The final race of the evening with British representation saw Scarlett Humphrey back in the pool, fresh from lining up alongside her twin sister Eliza in the S11 Women’s 400m Freestyle final yesterday.

This time she was the sole GB swimmer in the S11 50m Freestyle where she finished in seventh spot.

She put in a strong swim amongst a strong field to improve on her time from the heats by 0.13 as she finished the ‘splash and dash’ race in 30.85.

That was less than a second off the winner and new world record holder Jia Ma of China (28.96).