2020 TOKYO SUMMER PARALYMPIC GAMES
- When: Pool swimming: Wednesday, August 25 – Friday, September 3, 2021
- Where: Olympic Aquatics Centre / Tokyo, Japan
- Heats: 9 AM / Finals: 5 PM (Local time)
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EXPLANATION OF PARA CLASSIFICATION SYSTEM
- There are 14 classifications for Paralympic swimmers, typically denoted as “S” followed by a number.
- “SB” designates an athletes classification for breaststroke events
- “SM” is for individual medley events
- Athletes with physical impairments are classified in S1-S10, SB1-SB9, and SM1-SM10 with numbers 1-10 ranging from more severe activity limitations to less severe limitations.
- Athletes with visual impairments are classified in S/SB11-13.
- Athletes with intellectual impairments are classified in S/SB14.
- The Paralympics are not the “Para Olympics” or anything similar. The International Olympic Committee and International Paralympic Committee are separate organizations with separate leadership and separate events that happen to have a partnership to organize their crowned jewels more efficiently.
At the conclusion of both prelims and finals sessions from day three of the Tokyo 2020 Paralympics, a total of 9 World and 11 Paralympic records fell. While World records also institute a respective continental record from that swimmer’s country, an additional 8 continental records fell.
Day 3 Prelims: 3 World, 5 Paralympic Records
The S11 women’s 50 free featured the first-ever swims under the 30-second barrier, courtesy of prelims leaders Cyprus’ Karolina Pelendritou (29.92) & China’s Li Guizhi (29.95). Before this session, Pelendritou formerly held the world record from May 2021 while Guizhi originally held the Paralympic record from Rio 2016.
During the S5 women’s 50 fly prelims, China’s Lu Dong took the top seed with an Asian record time of 40.74. Spain’s Marta Fernandez Infante set a new S4 World and Paralympic record at 41.27, chomping her own 43.22 World mark and the 2016 Paralympic standard of 53.67.
Qualifying sixth en route a new Americas and South American record was Joana da Silva Neves Euzebio, touching the wall at 46.32. Another S4 swimmer, Malaysia’s Brenda Anellia Larry, set a new Asian record in the prelims at 1:00.62.
China’s Yuan Weiyi took down the 2012 S5 men’s 50 fly Paralympic record by nearly two full seconds at 32.30. 26-time Paralympic medalist Brazilian Daniel Dias formerly held the 2016 Paralympic record at 34.15.
USA’s Mallory Weggemann took 0.17s off the 2012 Paralympic record of 2:54.42 in the SM7 women’s 200 IM to snag the top spot into the final at 2:54.25.
| All Day 3 Prelims Records | ||||
| Event | Swimmer | Country | Time | Record |
| S11 Women’s 50 Free | Ma Jia | CHN | 30.05 | World/Paralympic Record |
| S11 Women’s 50 Free | Karolina Pelendritou | CYP | 29.92 | World/Paralympic Record |
| S11 Women’s 50 Free | Li Guizhi | CHN | 29.95 | Asian Record |
| S5 Men’s 50 Fly | Yuan Weiyi | CHN | 32.30 | Paralympic Record |
| S5 Women’s 50 Fly | Lu Dong | CHN | 40.74 | Asian Record |
| S5 Women’s 50 Fly | Joana da Silva Neves Euzebio | BRA | 46.32 | Americas/South American Record |
| S4 Women’s 50 Fly | Marta Fernandez Infante | ESP | 41.27 | World/Paralympic Record |
| S4 Women’s 50 Fly | Brenda Anellia Larry | MAS | 1:00.62 | Asian Record |
| SM7 Women’s 200 IM | Mallory Weggemann | USA | 2:54.25 | Paralympic Record |
Day 3 Finals: 6 World/Paralympic Records
Taking the bronze medal in the S12 women’s 100 back to write a new Americas/South American record was Brazil’s Maria Gomes Santiago at 1:09.18.
Taking down the first World record of the session was American Robert Griswold, who upgraded his Rio 2016 bronze medal to 2020 gold in Tokyo. Griswold clocked in a new personal best of 1:02.55, chopping 0.35s off the 2016 World and Paralympic marks of 1:02.90.
Great Britain’s Reece Dunn took down his own 2019 World record in the S14 men’s 200 free, as well as the 2016 Paralympic standard of 1:56.32. Easily under the World/Paralympic marks as well but settling for the silver was Brazil’s Gabriel Bandeira. His runner-up time of 1:52.74 did establish new Americas and South American continental records.
Zheng Tao led a Chinese 1-2-3 finish in the S5 men’s 50 fly final with a new World record time of 30.62, taking down his own month-old standard of 30.88.
Two different class World records were broken in the S5 women’s 50 fly final. Breaking the 40-second barrier for the first time was China’s Lu Dong at 39.54. The former World/Paralympic records of 40.51 came from the 2008 Paralympics. Securing the silver medal with this class in a S4 World/Paralympic record was Spain’s Marta Fernandez Infante at 40.22, taking a full second off of her own prelims standard of 41.27.
The 2:30-barrier was cleared for the first time in the SM7 men’s 200 IM. Israel’s Mark Malyar took the Paralympic title at 2:29.01, taking down the 2016 World/Paralympic record of 2:30.72. Runner-up Ukraine’s Andrii Trusov was the second ever to break the 2:30-barrier at 2:29.99. In the same final, South Africa’s Christian Sadie placed sixth to score a new African Continental record of 2:35.94.
In the final event of the session, the S13 women’s 400 free, Australia’s Katja Dedekind (4:35.87) set a new Oceanian record to secure the bronze medal.
The S11 women’s 50 free final wound up being protested and results became unofficial and were removed. Still, China’s Ma Jia put up the fastest time in history at 29.46 while Cyprus’ Karolina Pelendritou swam the fastest European time at 29.80.
| All Day 3 Finals Records | ||||
| Event | Swimmer | Country | Time | Record |
| S12 Women’s 100 Back | Maria Gomes Santiago | BRA | 1:09.18 | Americas/South American Record |
| S8 Men’s 100 Back | Robert Griswold | USA | 1:02.55 | World/Paralympic Record |
| S14 Men’s 200 Free | Reece Dunn | GBR | 1:52.40 | World/Paralympic Record |
| S14 Men’s 200 Free | Gabriel Bandeira | BRA | 1:52.74 | Americas/South American Record |
| S5 Men’s 50 Fly | Zheng Tao | CHN | 30.62 | World/Paralympic Record |
| S5 Women’s 50 Fly | Lu Dong | CHN | 39.54 | World/Paralympic Record |
| S4 Women’s 50 Fly | Marta Fernandez Infante | ESP | 40.22 | World/Paralympic Record |
| SM7 Men’s 200 IM | Mark Malyar | ISR | 2:29.01 | World/Paralympic Record |
| SM7 Men’s 200 IM | Christian Sadie | RSA | 2:35.94 | African Record |
| S13 Women’s 400 Free | Katja Dedekind | AUS | 4:35.87 | Oceanian Record |
DAY 3 MEDAL TABLE
| RANK | NATION | GOLD | SILVER | BRONZE | TOTAL |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 |  CHINA (CHN) |
5 | 5 | 7 | 17 |
| 2 |  RPC (RPC) |
5 | 4 | 7 | 16 |
| 3 |  Italy (ITA) |
4 | 5 | 3 | 12 |
| 4 |  Great Britain (GBR) |
4 | 3 | 3 | 10 |
| 5 |  Australia (AUS) |
4 | 1 | 5 | 10 |
| 6 |  Netherlands (NED) |
2 | 3 | 0 | 5 |
| 7 |  United States (USA) |
2 | 1 | 0 | 3 |
| 8 |  Belarus (BLR) |
2 | 0 | 0 | 2 |
 Israel (ISR) |
2 | 0 | 0 | 2 | |
| 10 |  Ukraine (UKR) |
1 | 4 | 1 | 6 |
| 11 |  Japan (JPN) |
1 | 2 | 1 | 4 |
| 12 |  Brazil (BRA) |
1 | 1 | 4 | 6 |
| 13 |  Azerbaijan (AZE) |
1 | 0 | 0 | 1 |
 Chile (CHI) |
1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | |
 Colombia (COL) |
1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | |
 Ireland (IRL) |
1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | |
 Singapore (SIN) |
1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | |
| 18 |  Spain (ESP) |
0 | 3 | 0 | 3 |
| 19 |  Canada (CAN) |
0 | 1 | 1 | 2 |
| 20 |  France (FRA) |
0 | 1 | 0 | 1 |
 Hungary (HUN) |
0 | 1 | 0 | 1 | |
 New Zealand (NZL) |
0 | 1 | 0 | 1 | |
| 23 |  Germany (GER) |
0 | 0 | 1 | 1 |
 Greece (GRE) |
0 | 0 | 1 | 1 | |
 Mexico (MEX) |
0 | 0 | 1 | 1 | |
 Uzbekistan (UZB) |
0 | 0 | 1 | 1 |