See Also: Decoding the S1-S14 Classification System.
Five different events saw six world records fall on the second day of the 2015 IPC World Championships, and Russia and the Ukraine led all nations with five gold medals apiece.
American Rebecca Meyers was the first to break a world mark on the day, going 2:24.60 to win the 200 IM and break her own world record by over two seconds.
Meyers competed in the SM13 category – that is one of three levels of athletes with visual impairments, and all three levels (SM11, SM12 and SM13) all compete in the same race for the same medals.
That race was a 2-for-1, with the SM12 world record also falling. It went to Russia’s Darya Stukalova in 2:24.86. Stukalova takes home the silver medal along with that world record.
Just two events later, Australian 13-year-old Tiffany Thomas Kane became the youngest record-breaker of the meet so far. Kane won gold in the SB6 100 breaststroke, going 1:34.95 to break the world record previously held by American star Mallory Weggemann.
Colombia’s Carlos Serrano Zarate got into the action next, winning gold in the SB7 men’s 100 breaststroke. The 16-year-old Zarate’s 1:16.68 just barely snuck under the 1:16.84 world record previously held by Australian Blake Cochrane, who was second in this race.
Dutch swimmer Lisette Teunissen broke the fourth world record, going 1:37.18 to win the S3 women’s 100 free. Once again, the previous record-holder was second – this time the Ukraine’s Olga Sviderska.
And in the final event of the night, Mexico’s Nely Miranda Herrera lowered her own world record in the S4 women’s 50 free. Herrera, now at age 42, went 40.08 to take just over two tenths off her previous mark.
In terms of the team race, Ukraine and Russia tied to lead all nations with 5 gold medals on day 2, including three of them back-to-back-to-back for each nation.
For Ukraine, that triple came courtesy of Hennadii Boiko (2:29.82 in the S1 men’s 100 back), Serhii Palamarchuk (2:08.31 in the S2 men’s 100 back) and Iryna Sotska (2:17.13 in the women’s S2 100 back).
Later, Yevheniy Bohodayko would win the men’s SB6 100 breast in 1:21.92, and Denys Dubrov provided the finishing touch with a European record 2:11.94 in the men’s SM10 200 IM.
Russia got three consecutive golds late, with Andrei Kalina (1:07.38 in the men’s SB8 100 breast), Olesia Vladykina (1:17.47 in the women’s SB8 100 breast) and Eskender Mustafaev (38.17 in the men’s S4 50 free).
Russia also got medals from Iurii Luchkin in the men’s SB5 100 breast (1:32.01) and Alexander Skaliukh in the men’s S9 100 free (56.97).
It’s simply amazing to see this guys swimming and breaking world records. 🙂