Ukraine was the dream team on the
penultimate day of the Madeira 2020 European Para Swimming Open Championships
winning nine golds to overtake Italy at the top of the medals table.
The country claimed nearly half of
the 22 titles up for grabs in a series of stunning victories at the Penteada
Olympic Swimming Pools Complex on Friday (May 21).
Maksym Krypak led the charge to win
his fifth title of the competition in a blistering display of speed and
strength in the 100m freestyle S10.
The 25-year-old pushed Italy’s
Stefano Raimondi into second place for the fifth time this week in 51.16, which
was just outside his European record. Russia’s Dmitrii Bartasinskii took the
bronze.
There was another outstanding
performance from his teammate Yehvhenii Bohodaiko who claimed his fifth
European title in a row in the 100m breaststroke SB6 final. The world record
holder hunted down Israel’s Mark Malyar, who went out strongly, to win his
second gold.
“I am happy with the win and aware of
the mistakes I made. I hope to break the world record in the near future,” he
said after the race. “I am glad about my results in this competition because we
haven’t competed on the highest level for a long time. Although, I can do much
better.”
Competing alongside Bohodaiko in the
race was his teammate Andrii Trusov, who came fourth. Earlier on day six the
powerful 21-year-old pulled away from the rest of the field in the 50m
freestyle S7 to win his third gold medal of the competition. Bohodaiko came in
second.
ISRAEL'S DADAON BREAKS WORLD RECORD
There were other great wins from
compatriots Roman Bondarenko in men’s 50m backstroke S2, Denys Dubrov in the
men’s 200m individual medley SM6, Mykhailo Serbin in men’s 100m backstroke S11,
Serhii Palamarchuk in men’s 50m freestyle S3, Anna Stetsenko in women’s 400m
freestyle S13 and the mixed 4x100m freestyle relay 49pts.
Belarus legend Ihar Boki also showed
off his incredible form by winning his fifth gold medal of the competition. In
another brilliant display in the pool, the world record holder charged from the
front in the 400m freestyle S13 to claim his 23rd Championship title. France’s
Kylian Portal won the battle for second with Ukraine’s Kyrylo Garashchenko
third.
“It is very pleasant to take part in
this Championship, especially considering that this is a first big competition
after a long break. I am very happy that I can show good results here in
Madeira. I would like to thank the Organising Committee for putting on this
event at such a difficult time,” said the 26-year-old.
“I am training constantly to improve
my results. I am looking ahead, but of course I can’t deny the influence of my
age. Young athletes are following me and perhaps they will win next time.”
The Championships are open to
non-Europeans ahead of the Paralympic Games in Tokyo and Brazil’s Gabriel
Bandeira has shown phenomenal form all week. On Friday he took the field by
storm to win his fifth title in the 100m freestyle S14.
Israel’s Ami Omer Dadaon landed his
second world record of the competition in the 200m freestyle S4. He broke away
from Russia’s world record holder Roman Zhdanov in the last 50m to touch the
wall first. The gold medal was his third of the week.
An elated Dadaon said after the race:
“Madeira is the best competition in my life. I want to thank my coach who
helped me to achieve these amazing results. I also want to thank my club and
all the others who helped me achieve two world records here.
“I wasn’t in my best shape today, but
I knew I have to give it my all. That is exactly what I did. It was very
exhausting, but I did it at the end eventually.”
In the women’s 50m freestyle S7,
Italy’s Giulia Terzi claimed her fourth gold when she hit the wall a fraction
of a second ahead of Germany’s Denise Grahl and Ukraine’s Anna Hontar in 33.44.
“I am so happy because the 50m
freestyle is not my favourite competition,” she said. “I have won four golds
and one bronze medal. The training was hard, but the satisfaction is enormous.”
The Italian team picked up three
golds during the finals with Francesco Bocciardo and Monica Boggioni each
getting a gold medal in the respective men and women’s 200m freestyle S5.
THIRD TRIUMPH FOR APPLEGATE
Great Britain’s Jessica Applegate
also turned in an outstanding performance in the 100m freestyle S14 final. She
led from the front to win her third gold medal.
In the surprise result of day six,
world record holder Simone Barlaam just missed out on the medals in the 100m
backstroke S9 final. The Italian, who was in the lead for most of the race, was
overtaken in the last few strokes by Russia’s Bogdan Mozgovoi, who came first,
followed by France’s Ugo Didier and Belgium’s Yahor Shchalkanau.
In the 100m backstroke S9, Hungary’s
three-time gold medal winner, Zsofia Konkoly, also came fourth behind Spain’s
Nuria Marques Soto, who won the title, followed by Sweden’s Lina Watz and Great
Britain’s Stephanie Millward.
Hungary also topped the podium with
Bianka Pap, who claimed her third gold in the women’s 100m freestyle S10, and
Evelin Szaraz who picked up the women’s 100m breaststroke SB6 title ahead of
Ireland’s Nicole Turner.
In the women's 200m individual medley
SM8, Russia’s Victoriia Ischiulova finished strongly in first, as did her
teammate, Kateryna Tkachuk in the 100m backstroke S11.
The European Open Championships
finishes on Saturday (22 May) with 20 finals. Complete results and schedule can
be found on the Madeira 2020 website https://www.paralympic.org/madeira-2020/schedule-results/
All the action on day six seven will
be live on World Para Swimming website http://www.worldparaswimming.org/
and Facebook page http://www.facebook.com/ParaSwimming
(with geo-block restrictions in Spain
and the United Kingdom).
Behind the scenes and more from
Madeira on Instagram https://www.instagram.com/paraswimming/
and Twitter www.twitter.com/para_swimming
The International Paralympic
Committee (IPC) is the global governing body of the Paralympic Movement.
The IPC supervises the organisation
of the Summer and Winter Paralympic Games, and serves as the International
Federation for ten sports, for which it oversees and co-ordinates the World
Championships and other competitions, including swimming.
The IPC is committed to enabling
Paralympic athletes to achieve sporting excellence and to developing sport
opportunities for all persons with a disability from the beginner to elite
level. In addition, the IPC aims to promote the Paralympic values, which
include courage, determination, inspiration and equality.
For further information, please
contact Rafael Maranhao, IPC Public Relations Senior Manager
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