Three-way rivalry to return after early swim session

Brazil’s Matheus Souza, the USA’s Brad Snyder and China’s Bozun Yang showed excellent form in the morning session of day eight (Thursday, 15 September) of swimming competition for the Rio 2016 Paralympic Games at the Olympic Aquatics Stadium.

The trio clocked the top-three times in the men’s 100m freestyle S11, just one of the 10 events that kicked off on Thursday morning.

Snyder, the reigning world champion, registered the quickest time in the morning heats at 57.16, a Paralympic record. Souza won his heat in 1:00.17. China’s reigning Paralympic champion Bozun Yang clocked the second fastest time at 59.74, finishing behind Snyder, and will certainly add to the excitement.

Hungary’s Tamas Sors (1:00.58) will get to defend his Paralympic title in the men’s 100m butterfly S9 for the third straight Games after winning his heat. Italy’s Federico Morlacchi (1:01.57), runner-up at the 2015 World Championships in Glasgow, Great Britain, won the second heat and will try to break Sors’ streak. Croatian Worlds bronze medallist Kristijan Vincetic (1:01.92) also advanced in his heat, finishing behind Morlacchi.

Germany’s London 2012 runner-up and Worlds bronze medallist Torben Schmidtke (1:24.61) eased to victory in his heat in the men’s 100m breaststroke SB6. Colombian Worlds silver medallist Nelson Crispin Corozo (1:22.74) out-touched Paralympic and world champion Ievgenii Bogodaiko (1:22.88) of Ukraine. Both will meet again in the evening finals.

Australia’s Tiffany Kane Thomas (1:35.43) successfully ensured her spot in the women’s 100m breaststroke SB6 finals. The 15-year-old looked the strongest of the two heats and in form to capture her first ever Paralympic gold tonight. But Great Britain’s Charlotte Henshaw (1:38.11) will try to improve upon the silver she took at London 2012 after winning her heat.

Ukraine’s Denys Dubrov (4:10.30) won the men’s 400m freestyle S10 first heat, followed by Canada’s London 2012 runner-up Benoit Huot (4:10.58). Ukraine’s Maksym Krypak (4:05.72) swam a European record en route to winning his heat and advancing. Brazil’s Andre Brasil (4:13.34) just squeezed into the evening finals.

Cacilia Camellini will go for back-to-back Paralympic titles tonight after winning her segment in the women’s 100m freestyle S11 in 1:09.10. The Netherlands’ Liesette Bruinsma was the fastest in the second heat at 1:08.97. New Zealand’s world champion Mary Fisher (1:11.85) and bronze medallist from both London 2012 and Glasgow 2015, China’s Guizhi Li (1:09.22), will also challenge in the finals.

Canada’s Aurelie Rivard (4:40.86) and France’s Elodie Lorandi (4:45.13) will go head-to-head in the women’s 400m freestyle S10 after earning their spots in the finals. Lorandi took the title at London 2012, but Rivard swapped positions after winning at Glasgow 2015.

World Championship silver medallist Inbal Pezaro (3:37.62) will go for her first ever Paralympic medal after four Games. The Israeli took the first heat of the women’s 200m individual medley SM5. Defending world champion Sarah Louise Rung was in strong form, cruising in the later heat in 3:19.54. The Norwegian, who took silver at London, is the favourite for gold. Spain’s Teresa Perales, bronze medallists at London 2012 and Glasgow 2015, was second behind Rung in 3:40.65.

China’s Jialing Xu (1:09.43) clocked the fastest time to advance in the women’s 100m butterfly S9. The USA’s Elizabeth Smith (1:09.95) took her heat and was followed by Paralympic and Worlds runner-up Sarai Gascon (1:10.59) of Spain and Australia’s Madeline Scott (1:10.96) respectively. Hungary’s Zsofia Konkoly (1:10.75) won her heat, followed by Ireland’s Ellen Keane (1:10.95).

China’s Yang Yang will return to the pool tonight after winning his heat in 58.63, looking to show why he is the reigning Paralympic and world champion.

Live coverage and results of swimming is available at Paralympic.org. Live updates will also be posted to IPC Swimming’s Facebook, Twitter and Instagram.