Steph Slater, Ellie Simmonds star at British International Meet
22.04.2014Find out which British swimmers clocked qualifying times for this year’s IPC Swimming European Championships.
Great Britain's Stephanie Slater is establishing herself as one of the fastest rising stars in para-swimming.
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“Words can’t describe how I’m feeling about setting a new world record. I had it in the back of my mind to go for the record but I just went out to do the best I could. It’s an amazing feeling.
Twenty-six British swimmers secured qualifying times for the 2014 IPC Swimming European Championships last weekend at the four-day British Para-Swimming International Meet in Glasgow.
Steph Slater starred in her home pool, cracking qualifying times for the European Championships in five events – the 50m freestyle S8, 100m freestyle S8, 100m backstroke S8, 100m butterfly S8, 200m individual medley SM8.
Her world-record time of 1:09.67 in the 100m butterfly S8 stole the show on the penultimate day of the event.
“Words can’t describe how I’m feeling about setting a new world record,” Slater told British Swimming. “I had it in the back of my mind to go for the record but I just went out to do the best I could. It’s an amazing feeling.
“I’ve been working a lot on the technical side of my strokes at the National Performance Centre in Manchester and it’s made a lot of difference. I’m looking forward to focusing even more on this to see what I can achieve.”
Simmonds, who rose to national fame two years ago at London 2012, hit qualifying times in the 100m freestyle S6, 400m freestyle S6 and 200m individual medley SM6 – swimming close to many of her personal-best times in several events.
Amy Marren, who won four golds and two silvers at the 2013 IPC Swimming World Championships, reached the qualifying marks in the 100m freestyle S9, 400m freestyle S9, 100m backstroke S9 and 200m individual medley SM9.
Andrew Mullen, just 18 years old, clocked successful qualifying times in the 200m freestyle S5, 50m backstroke S5, 50m butterfly S5 and 200m individual medley SM5.
After failing to medal at the London 2012 Paralympics, Mullen has become one of the country’s fastest rising swimmers, taking three medals at last year’s World Championships and heading into this year’s Europeans as one of the nation’s faces to watch.
Other British swimmers on the men’s side who swam qualifying times in Glasgow include Ollie Hynd, Sascha Kindred, Jon Fox, Matt Walker, Rob Welbourne, James Crisp, Jack Thomas, Aaron Moores, Scott Quin, James Hollis and Craig Harris.
For the women, Claire Cashmore, Jessica-Jane Applegate, Nicole Lough, Eleni Papadoupoulos, Gemma Almond, Alice Tai, Chloe Davis, Susie Rodgers, Steph Millward, Hannah Russell and Charlotte Henshaw all put in qualifying performances.
