Second gold medal for Summers-Newton in new Paralympic record time

Maisie Summers-Newton is now a double Paralympic champion after winning her second gold of the Tokyo Paralympics in record time.

The 19-year-old broke the Women’s SB6 100m Breaststroke Paralympic record twice in one day after surpassing her heats time to achieve a new personal best of 1:32.34.

This gold medal is her second of the Games after she set a new world record in the Women’s SM6 200m Individual Medley to finish on top of the podium.

After her performance, she said: “I definitely wanted it on my IM and going in for the 100 breaststroke I thought a silver for me would be absolutely amazing.

“That was kind of my main aim because the Chinese girls – she obviously got the world record in London – so I just wanted to try and give it my all after that heat.

“I knew I’d done a great heat swim and I just thought ‘just give it all I’ve got, try and get that gold again’.

When asked when she thought she might have the chance to outdo her expectations and take gold, she said: “Definitely this morning because that was a PB for me this morning and then seeing the other competitors times I thought ‘ok, I’ll try and go for it a bit more tonight’.

“But it was definitely that last 25 metres I thought ‘grit your teeth and just go for it’ because I didn’t have a clue where anyone else was so I just went for it.”

The goal has got even bigger

After her first gold in the individual medley, Northampton Swimming Club head coach Andy Sharp hailed her performance as a ‘special’ swim.

Speaking after her second gold, Summers-Newton paid tribute to both Sharp and former Northampton coach, now British Para-Swimming’s Head of Performance Pathway, Jacquie Marshall.

She said: “He [Andy] sent me a quick message after my IM just to say enjoy the moment because obviously I still had others, but it was amazing.

“Obviously me and Jacquie spoke after my IM, we set a goal five years ago and that goal’s been achieved just being here and then I think the goal’s got even bigger now after these two golds.

“I’m just so proud to be with her and do this experience with her because she’s been such an amazing coach with me and I wouldn’t have been able to do it without her.”

GB teammate Ellie Simmonds also swam a strong race in the SB6 100m Breaststroke final and improved on her heats time to take fourth place in 1:39.94.

On what it’s like to share the call room with her idol before the race, Summers-Newton added: “We kind of just gave each other a big thumbs up and said good luck.

“I think when you’re in the call room, you’ve kind of done everything that you need to do and you’re in that position to race really fast.

“I think we both came away with great results, so it’s just amazing to be with her and all the other competitors as well.”