GLASGOW, Scotland – Rebecca Meyers wasn’t satisfied with just winning the world title in the women’s 200-meter IM S13 race as she put in a record-breaking performance to break her own world mark today at the 2015 IPC Swimming World Championships in Glasgow, Scotland.
Meyers (Timonium, Maryland), who won silver in this event at the London 2012 Paralympic Games, shaved over two seconds off her time set at the Pan Pacific Para-swimming Championships in 2014 to edge out Russia’s Darya Stukalova with a time of 2:24.60. Meyers won her first world championship title and Team USA’s first gold medal of Day Two at the Tollcross International Swimming Centre, bringing her career world medal count to five.
“It feels incredible to be able to break my own record because it shows that I’m improving,” Meyers said. “I still have things to work on but I am getting faster and that’s a good feeling to have going into this next year with the Games.”
Jessica Long (Baltimore, Maryland) fought in the final meters to claim the gold over the Netherlands’ Lisa Den-Braber in the women’s 100 breaststroke SB7 with a time of 1:32.46. The 17-time Paralympic medalist also set a championships record last held by American swimmer Erin Popovich. This was Long’s second title in two days after winning the women’s 100 butterfly S8 yesterday.
“Breaststroke is one of the events that is slowly coming back to me [after taking time off from the stroke] and I think this was a great start,” Long said. “I’ll improve on some things but what I love about swimming is that you’re always learning. I’m definitely going to go back to my coach and make some tweaks but for right now I’m just excited to celebrate the gold medal.”
Brad Snyder (Baltimore, Maryland) overcame a turbulent turn after the first 100 meters of the men’s 400 free S11 to capture the gold and his second world title of the championships with a time of 4:37.13. Snyder, the 2012 Paralympic gold medalist in the event, took the 100 free yesterday in his first world championships win. Tharon Drake (Hobbs, New Mexico) joined Snyder on the podium with a bronze-medal finish, touching the line in 4:58.40.
Winning her first career world medal was 23-year-old Michelle Konkoly who took silver in the women’s 100 free S9 race. Konkoly (Eagleville, Pennsylvania) slipped just .47 seconds short of the win from Australia’s Ellie Cole, who broke the world record twice in the 100 backstroke S9 prelims and finals.
Team USA goes into the third day of the IPC Swimming World Championships with a medal count of six gold, one silver and one bronze medal. Competition continues tomorrow and with a live stream available at USParalympics.org. Full results and schedule from the competition taking place July 13-19 can be found on the IPC website.
Press release courtesy: US Paralympics.