Streamlined News: Paralympics Begins; Yamaguchi Sprints in Japan; Division II Champs Relocated

PHOENIX, Arizona, August 30. THE Paralympic swimming competition started today in London with four world records set so far in the London Aquatic Center. The meet kicked off with a world mark in the men's 100 back in the S6 division by China's Zheng Tao, who took four tenths off the record with a 1:13.56.

China kept the ball rolling in the women's 100 back in the S6 division, as Lu Dong won with a world record time of 1:24.71.

Jonathan Fox had the home crowd on its feet as he won the men's S7 100 backstroke in 1:10.46, just missing the world record he set in prelims by one hundredth of a second.

Earlier today in prelims, Sophie Pascoe of New Zealand set a world mark in the 200 IM SM10 division with a 2:28.73, and will be after that record in finals tonight.

Other winners today included Jessica Long of the United States in the women's S8 100 butterfly, almost breaking her world record. Sergey Punko of Russia in the men's 400 freestyle in the S12 division, a couple of seconds off his world record. And Natalie du Toit increased her Paralympic medal total to 11 golds when she won the 100 butterfly in the S9 division.

Finals at the Paralympics are still taking place, and you can find a complete recap of all the events at the end of the session on swimmingworld.com.

Over in Tokyo, Akihro Yamaguchi wrapped up competition at the Junior Olympics with a 27.56 in the 50 breaststroke. Compared to his amazing 2:07.5 in the 200 breast, Yamaguchi's 50 isn't that high on the world rankings list, but shows promising speed. It was only three tenths off Kosuke Kitajima's national record.

If you've already booked tickets for the 2013 NCAA Division II swimming and diving championships in Cleveland, Ohio … there's been a major change of venue. The NCAA announced today that the meet has moved to Birmingham, Alabama, at a site that is closer to team hotels than they were in Cleveland. Originally, the competition was going to be held at the SPIRE Institute, which was 45 minutes from the hotels in downtown Cleveland.

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