Poppy Maskill claims her first major international title in Aberdeen

Teenager Poppy Maskill has won her first major international title following an impressive performance at the Citi Para Swimming World Series  in Aberdeen.

Alsager’s S14 swimmer Maskill led from the front in the Women’s MC 100m Butterfly World Series Final but touched home second behind Paralympian Toni Shaw (S9).

However, Maskill’s time of 1:09.45 was enough to seal the gold with 767 points – only six ahead of silver medallist Shaw who had clocked 1:08.41.

Brock Whiston (S8) sealed a British one, two, three as she took the bronze medal with a total of 694 after clocking 1:17.02.

Maskill said: “I’m really happy with that.

“Beforehand, it was a bit of a mixture of both excitement and nerves. Racing against athletes from around the world has been really cool this week.”

In the national final, Aberdeen’s Natalia Chociaj was victorious with 449 points after recording a time of 1:21.21.

The S13 swimmer was 20 points clear of Reading’s Fern Ioannou (S14), who finished in 1:24.85, while Borough of Kirklees’ Evie Lambert (S9) claimed the final podium spot with 210 points for her time of 1:32.33.

Clegg storms to victory

Stephen Clegg was narrowly outside his own world record as he stormed to victory in the Men’s MC 100m Butterfly final.

The Paralympic silver medallist touched in 56.80 – only 0.05 outside his world best.

It earned the S12 swimmer 997 points to comfortably take the gold ahead of Iceland’s Robert Isak Jonsson (S14), who scored 765 for his time of 59.54.

James Hollis (S10) finished third with a total of 740 points after clocking 59.86.

In the national final, Plymouth’s Cameron Vearncombe led home a quartet of S14 swimmers.

He scored 734 points for his time of 1:00.36 to take the gold, with Hull’s Owen Garsides second on 609 after finishing in 1:04.22

Littlehampton’s Joseph Greaves recorded a time of 1:04.46 to score 603 points and win the bronze medal.

Silver lining for Hannah

Hannah Russell claimed a silver medal in the Women’s MC 50m Freestyle World Series Final – and her third podium place of the event – as Tanja Scholz set a new European record to top the podium.

The German S4 swimmer finished in 38.36 in the first of the two finals to score 962 points.

S12 swimmer Russell was victorious in her race, touching home in 28.19 for a score of 851 points – 19 ahead of the bronze medallist Arianna Hunsicker (S10), from Canada, who clocked 29.10 for a total of 832. 

Ellie Challis got the evening off to a flying start as she set a new British record for the second time in the day.

After clocking 53.11 in the Women’s MC 50m Freestyle in the morning’s heats, Challis shaved 1.20 seconds off that time in the national final.

The S3 swimmer finished in 51.91 as she took eighth spot overall with a score of 468 points.

Challis said: “It was really good.

“I didn’t expect to swim this afternoon, I just came here to watch my friends swim and then got put into a final. It all went well, I’m really happy with it, and not just the British record.

“I haven’t been too pleased because I haven’t been able to progress heat to final, like we normally aim to do, and I was able to do that in this race. So it’s been a good end to the event, and I can’t wait to race again.

“It’s only February – my 100m Freestyle the other day, I was so shocked with the result, especially in the heat, and then to go near-on the same time in the final, I’m definitely pleased with it all. But it’s only February.

“We’ve got Worlds in June, so we’ve got a couple of months yet!”

Skipton’s S10 swimmer Abbie Hampshire took gold with 757 points for her time of 30.03.

Chociaj (S13) was second with 605 points after finishing in 31.53, while City of Cambridge’s Claire Connon (S5) took the bronze clocking 42.60 for a score fo 594.

Superb second for Kieran

In the Men’s MC 50m Freestyle World Series Final, Newquay’s Kieran Williams picked up a silver medal following a tremendous battle for top spot with Germany’s Justin Kaps.

The two S10 swimmers were separated by only 0.29 seconds with Kaps taking the gold in a time of 26.09 for 699 points.

Williams finished in 26.38 for a total of 676.

William Perry secured the bronze after another thrilling race for the wall with fellow S6 swimmer Leo McCrea.

Perry finished in 32.84 for 658 points – 0.09 ahead of Switzerland’s McCrea who was fourth in 32.93 for a score of 653.

Worcester’s Matthew Redfern took gold in the Men’s MC 50m Freestyle national final after scoring 646 points for his time of 26.83.

The silver medal was won by Nova Centurion’s Owen Say (S8) with a score of 573 following his 30.47 swim, while Mount Kelly’s Sebastian Williams (S6) was third on 539 after recording a time of 35.10.

Perry said: “I’m very pleased. That is my first World Series medal – I’m very happy after a long four days.

“For mid-February, I’m really happy with my performances and everything that has gone here.

“The main target was to achieve the Commonwealth Games time for the 50m Freestyle. It was my personal best, which was 32.85 – I had a cracking race with Leo where he was 0.01 ahead of me, but we smashed that time.

“That was the main goal, I’ve done it, I’ve got a new British record in the 50m Breaststroke, a big personal best in the 100m Breaststroke, so there’s nothing I can complain about.

“It’s a very busy year, I’m still pretty new to this international scene, I’ve done it for less than a year.

“I love the action, I love racing. Our coach at Northampton always tells us about racing at any time, anywhere with anyone, and this is a good demonstration of that.

“We’ve got to step up and qualify, which I’ve done, I know Maisie smashed it, the twins (Scarlett and Eliza Humphrey) have absolutely smashed it, Bruce Dee has smashed it.

“It’s set me up for a good year.”