Sixteen more records drop in Berlin pool

Norway’s seven-time Paralympic champion and two-time Paralympic champion Sarah Louise Rung, who is expected to be one of the headline athletes at the European Championships, clocked a new world-record time of 3:48.00 in the women’s 200m breaststroke SB4.

Over the final three days of the 28th Internationale Deutsche Meisterschaft swimming competition in Berlin, Germany, 16 further world records were smashed, bringing the total number broken during the event to 22.

Sweden’s Maja Reichard and Norway’s Ingrid Thunem were responsible for each breaking two, putting in top performances ahead of August’s IPC Swimming European Championships.

Paralympic champion Reichard set a new benchmark in the women’s 50m breaststroke SB11 with a time of 39.68 and then broke the world record in the 100m breaststroke SB11, clocking a 1:26.84.

After the race, Reichard tweeted: “Omg, first time under 1.27,00. I swam 100 breast at 1.26,84 and that is a new world record! This has been a great competition!”

Thunem who had already broken two world records on the first day of the event, set two further new world records in the women’s 100m freestyle S1 and 150m individual medley SM1 with times of 1:56.95 and 3:45.84, respectively.

Norway’s seven-time Paralympic champion and two-time Paralympic champion Sarah Louise Rung, who is expected to be one of the headline athletes at the European Championships, clocked a new world-record time of 3:48.00 in the women’s 200m breaststroke SB4.

For the USA, Tucker Dupree, Curtis Lovejoy and Elizabeth Smith all put themselves into the record books.

Dupree, a three-time medallist at the London 2012 Paralympics, looks to be entering his prime on the road to Rio 2016, as he clocked a new world record of 28.07 in the men’s 50m backstroke S12.

“What a GREAT 2 WEEKS. Nothing else to say. I swam out of my MIND and so fortunate to be able to swim around the world,” Dupree tweeted after the competition.

Five-time Paralympian Lovejoy broke his own men’s 100m breaststroke SB1 record that had been in the books for nearly 13 years. Lovejoy smashed his previous mark by nearly six seconds as he touched the wall in 3:31.09.

Smith’s time of 31.90 in the women’s 50m butterfly S9 rounded out the American pace setters.

Great Britain saw success in the women’s races, as Amy Marren broke the world record in the women’s 400m individual medley SM9 in 5:23.91 and Hannah Russell did the same in the 50m backstroke S12 in 31.95.

Japan, on the other hand, jolted to the front in the men’s events, with Keiichi Kimura and Takayuki Suzuki both breaking world records. Kimura raced to the finish in the men’s 200m butterfly S11 in 2:32.63 and Suzuki clocked a 3:33.01 in the men’s 200m individual medley SM4.

World bronze medallist Naomi Maike Schnittger starred for host nation Germany, setting a new world record of 2:14.55 in the women’s 200m freestyle S12.

Russia’s Aleskandr Golintovskii broke the world record in the men’s 800m freestyle S13 with a time of 9:07.79, Hungary’s Zsanett Adami recorded a new top time of 5:00.16 in the women’s individual medley SM2 and Cyprus’ Karolina Pelendritou put down a new benchmark time of 34.87 in the women’s 50m breastroke SB12.

All world records are pending IPC Swimming ratification.