EINDHOVEN, The Netherlands, August 4. SPAIN\u2019s Sarai Gascon stole the show on the first morning of the 2014 IPC Swimming European Championships in Eindhoven, the Netherlands, on Monday (4 August) equalling an eight-year-old world record and smashing her own European record.<\/p>\n
In a morning which included 10 finals and heats, swimmers from Spain, Germany, Greta Britain and Ukraine won two medals apiece and a further two European records were broken.<\/p>\n
Spain had a morning to remember with Gascon and Theresa Perales both winning gold in back-to-back races.<\/p>\n
Gascon (29.04) was victorious in the women\u2019s 50m freestyle S9, equalling the eight-year-old record of South African Natalie Du Toit, and adding to her 2013 world title. The 21-year-old finished ahead of Great Britain\u2019s Amy Marren (30.00) who took silver fractionally ahead of Russia\u2019s Natalia Mamlina (30.00) in bronze.<\/p>\n
First blood in the compelling rivalry between six-time Paralympic champion Perales (1:20.32) and Norway\u2019s seven-time world gold medallist Sarah Louise Rung (1:22.82) went to the Spanish defending champion in the women\u2019s 100m freestyle S5. Israel\u2019s Inbal Pezaro (1:23.66) finished in bronze.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt was better than I expected coming back after illness,\u201d said an emotional Perales who missed the majority of the 2013 season. \u201cI am very happy to be here and I have to enjoy today because of the medal but also because I am here again in the competition.\u201d<\/p>\n
Four-time Paralympic champion Ellie Simmonds (5:28.31) led the way for Great Britain winning her third consecutive 400m freestyle S6 European title but was not happy with her performance.<\/p>\n
\u201cI\u2019m really happy to get gold, it was a rubbish swim. I\u2019m not happy with the time,\u201d said the 19-year-old who held off a stern challenge in the first half of the race from Ukraine\u2019s eventual silver medallist Yelyzaveta Mereshko (5:35.08). Iceland\u2019s Thelma Bjornsdottir (6:03.67) completed the podium.<\/p>\n
Inspired by her teammate, Susannah Rodgers (5:22.74) claimed Great Britain\u2019s second gold in the women\u2019s 400m freestyle S7. Russia\u2019s Oxana Guseva (5:40.87) and Italy\u2019s Arianna Talamona (5:45.29) finished in silver and bronze respectively.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt was one of those ones where you don\u2019t know what is going to happen. I had a race plan and I\u2019m pleased with how it went. It was a good time. We are going in the right direction,\u201d said Rodgers who will compete in the 50m freestyle on Tuesday (5 August).<\/p>\n
Germany\u2019s Sebastian Ivanow (5:39.20) took the first gold of the day in the men\u2019s 400m freestyle S6. Israel\u2019s Yoav Valinsky (5:43.07) fought hard to keep up with the German but could not quite keep up in the last 100m and had to settle for silver.<\/p>\n
Sweden\u2019s Karl Forsman (6:14.91) took the bronze.<\/p>\n
Elena Krawzow doubled Germany\u2019s gold medal tally soon after with a blistering swim in the women\u2019s 100m breaststroke SB13. The 20-year-old (1:19.55) took more than 0.5 seconds off her own European record to touch home ahead of Spain\u2019s Deborah Font (1:23.90).<\/p>\n
Ukraine\u2019s Maryana Stabrovska (1:24.29) was third.<\/p>\n
Ukraine, who topped the medals table at the 2013 World Championships, won their first gold medal in the men\u2019s 100m freestyle S1 thanks to Hennadii Boiko. He beat Israel\u2019s world record holder Itzhak Mamistvalov (2:30.96) and teammate Kol Anton (2:41.96).<\/p>\n
In the very next race, 13-time world champion Dmytro Vynohradets (1:46.11) added to that tally in the men\u2019s 100m freestyle S3. He eased to victory over Spain\u2019s Miguel Martinez (1:52.96) and Greece\u2019s Ioannis Kostakis (1:59.44).<\/p>\n
Elsewhere, Maja Reichard (1:28.74) claimed Sweden\u2019s first gold in the women\u2019s 100m breaststroke SB11 ahead of Ukrainian Yana Berezhhna (1:31.66). Estonia\u2019s Elisabeth Egel (1:35.40) impressed in bronze.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s really nice, I am so happy. My swim wasn\u2019t as good as I had hoped but to win a European Championships is good and I am satisfied,\u201d said Reichard.<\/p>\n
Cyprus\u2019 Karolina Pelendritou (1:16.63) took gold in the women\u2019s 100m breaststroke SB12. Finishing just outside her own world record, Pelendritou was joined on the podium by Germany\u2019s Emely Telle (1:20.82) and Spain\u2019s Carla Casals (1:23.12).<\/p>\n
Dutch swimmers performed well for the host country on the opening morning of heats.<\/p>\n
Summer Mortimer (28.30) set a new European record in the women\u2019s 50m freestyle S10 on her first outing since switching nationality from Canada, whilst teammate Chantal Molenkamp (28.91) was second fastest.<\/p>\n
Marlou van der Kulk (1:08.07) qualified fastest in the women\u2019s 100m backstroke S14 to set-up a mouth-watering final with Russia\u2019s Valeriia Shabalina (1:08.54).<\/p>\n
Michael Schoenmaker (1:29.95) also made an impressive debut qualifying fastest in the men\u2019s 100m freestyle S4.<\/p>\n
Italy\u2019s Trimi Arjola (1:42.22) was fastest in the women\u2019s 100m freestyle S1-4 heats as was Russia\u2019s Dimitry Grigorev (24.95) in the men\u2019s 50m freestyle S10.<\/p>\n
Less than one second separated the fastest qualifiers in the men\u2019s 50m freestyle S9: Spain\u2019s Jose Mari (26.33), Hungary\u2019s Toth Tamas (26.39) and Russia\u2019s Alexander Skaliukh (26.74).<\/p>\n
Great Britain\u2019s Stephanie Slater (1:19.63) beat Russia\u2019s Olesya Vladykina (1:22.04) to the wall in the women\u2019s 100m backstroke S8 heat, and her teammate Andrew Mullen (1:18.42) was fastest in the men\u2019s 100m freestyle S5 heats.<\/p>\n
In the men\u2019s 100m breaststroke SB12, Belarusian world record holder Uladzimir Izotau (1:06.90) heads into the finals in pole position, followed by Oleksii Fedyna (1:08.00).<\/p>\n
The 2014 IPC Swimming European Championships continue until 10 August and feature around 380 of the world\u2019s best swimmers from 37 countries.<\/p>\n
The above article is a press release submitted to Swimming World. To reach our audience, contact us at newsmaster@swimmingworldmagazine.com.<\/i><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
EINDHOVEN, The Netherlands, August 4. SPAIN\u2019s Sarai Gascon stole the show on the first morning of the 2014 IPC Swimming European Championships in Eindhoven, the Netherlands, on Monday (4 August)<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":7,"featured_media":102832,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"dois","enabled":false},"version":2}},"categories":[3,10],"tags":[41891,36106,41896,41876,41877,41878,41879,41893,25088,41895,524,41881,41885,41887,36111,41890,36107,41889,41894,41898,4051,124,4308,41888,30710,41886,41883,36567,41882,41899,41892,41880,41897],"class_list":["post-102831","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-featured","category-world","tag-alexander-skaliukh","tag-amy-marren","tag-andrew-mullen","tag-arianna-talamona","tag-carla-casals","tag-chantal-molenkamp","tag-elena-krawzow","tag-elisabeth-egel","tag-ellie-simmonds","tag-emely-telle","tag-european-championships","tag-ioannis-kostakis","tag-jose-mari","tag-karl-forsman","tag-karolina-pelendritou","tag-kol-anton","tag-maja-reichard","tag-michael-schoenmaker","tag-miguel-martinez","tag-natalia-mamlina","tag-natalie-du-toit","tag-netherlands","tag-norway","tag-olesya-vladykina","tag-sarah-louise-rung","tag-sarai-gascon","tag-sebastian-ivanow","tag-stephanie-slater","tag-susannah-rodgers","tag-thelma-bjornsdottir","tag-theresa-perales","tag-yana-berezhhna","tag-yoav-valinsky"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"yoast_head":"\r\n