France’s Ugo Didier and Italy’s Arjola Trimi led a sensational Thursday (20 May) with 13 countries topping the podium in 25 finals at the Madeira 2020 European Para Swimming Open Championships.
Trimi had a perfect end to her races with a fourth gold medal and a surprise
world record in the women’s 50m freestyle S4. For Didier, it was the second
gold – in the men’s 400m freestyle S9 – with one more race to come in Portugal.
The 34-year-old Italian touched the wall well ahead of her opponents with a
time of 41.15 which also dipped under the world record for the S3
classification, which she swims in. Spain’s Marte Fernandez finished second and
Russia’s Nataliia Butkova third.
“It was my last race in Madeira and I wanted to finish with a win, but I
couldn’t imagine in my wildest dreams that it would be with a world record. I
am very happy,” said Trimi, who also won a silver medal and broke a European
record during the competition.
“Everything [at the competition] was fantastic. The people here are great, and I
am really happy that Madeira hosted the European Championships.”
She is now looking ahead to the Paralympic Games in Tokyo in August.
“We didn’t have much competition in the last year and a half, so to have a
competition like this before Tokyo was really important for me.”
Trimi’s win at the Panteada Olympic Pools Complex topped a night where 25 gold
medals were won, and world and European records were broken.
France’s Didier held off a stellar field to win the 400m freestyle S9 final.
The 19-year-old finished five seconds ahead of Spain’s world champion Jacobo
Garrido Brun and Italian star Simone Barlaam.
It was a sweet moment for him: “I knew that they were better than me in the
400m freestyle, but it was time for me to take the revenge, especially with
Simone because he won a lot against me before.
“I was aware that it was going to be hard for me to win the race and my
strategy was to get a good start. I am happy with that and with my time. I am
going to train a lot to be a great opponent in Tokyo.”
The French swimmer returns to the pool on Friday (21) to defend his European
title in the 100m backstroke S9.
BERTRAN BREAKS HIS OWN RECORD
Spain’s Antoni Ponce Bertran set the tone from the start of day five when he
lowered his own world record in the 100m breaststroke SB5. He looked elated
when he saw the scoreboard at the end. Russian teammates Andrei Granichka and
Iurii Luchkin were second and third.
There were also new European records set by Italian teammates Antonio Fantin
and Giulia Terzi. Fantin lowered his time in the 50m freestyle S6 twice in the
day, in the heats and the final. Terzi broke the time set at the Paralympics in
Rio 2016 for the 50m butterfly S7.
Israel’s Ami Omer celebrated his second gold medal of the competition with a
new European record in the 50m freestyle S4. And Ukraine’s Andrii Trusov beat
the record set by his teammate Yevhenii Bohodaiko in Rio 2016, who came second
in the 50m butterfly S7.
Ukraine won another five medals on Thursday helped by Maksym Krypak who put in
another outstanding performance to win his fourth gold in Madeira.
In the 100m butterfly S10 he pulled ahead of nearest rivals Italy’s Stefano
Raimondo and Russia’s Dmitry Grigoryev to land first.
“I feel good, but I have two more races here in Madeira. First tomorrow
[Friday] 100m freestyle and then on Saturday 100m breaststroke. This
competition is not finished for me yet. It would be nice to do that [win six
golds]. I was preparing for a really long time to achieve that.”
His teammate Yelzaveta Mereshko also notched up her fourth gold medal. She
claimed two stunning victories on Thursday in 50m freestyle S6 and 100m
breaststroke SB5.
Other athletes celebrating four wins were Belarus’s swimming legend Ihar Boki
in the men’s 50m freestyle S13 and Brazil’s Gabriel Bandeira in the men’s 200m
individual medley SM14.
THIRD GOLD FOR GREECE AND LITHUANIA
Greece’s Dimosthenis Michalentzakis landed his third gold in three days in the
50m freestyle S8. He faced a tough challenge from Russia’s Andrei Nikoklaev,
who was second, and Ukraine’s Denys Dubrov third.
“I am satisfied with my result, but I wanted to do a better time,” he said
after the race. “That’s why I have to keep moving towards Tokyo. I am focused
in every race and I will continue doing my best.”
Lithuania’s Edgaras Matakas could not hide his delight after winning the 100m
freestyle S11 and his third gold of the meet.
“My career is amazing. This win feels fantastic. I am a three-time European
champion here in Madeira. It can’t get better than that.”
And there was a third European Championship title for Hungary’s Zsofia Konkoly
after a stunning victory in the 400m freestyle S9.
The Salei brothers battled it out again in the pool in the 100m freestyle S12.
This time Roman, 27, claimed the victory over his older brother Dzmitry, 31,
who came third in the race behind Ukraine’s Maksym Veraksa.
Dzmitry, who competes for Azerbaijan, beat Raman, who competes for Belarus,
earlier in the week in the 100m butterfly S12.
Russia also had a successful day five, winning four European titles in women’s
events.
Daria Pikalova took her third gold in the 100m freestyle S12, Anna Krivshina
beat world and European record holder Carlotta Gilli in the 50m freestyle S13,
Sofiia Polikarpova conquered the field in the 100m freestyle S11 and
16-year-old Viktoriia Ishchiulova led from the front in the 50m freestyle S8.
Russia also won the men’s 4x100m medley relay 34pts while Spain triumphed in
the women’s event.
There was also a first gold for Sweden in Portugal with Pernilla Lindberg in
the women’s 200m individual medley SM14.
Full results and a complete schedule can be found on the Madeira 2020
website https://www.paralympic.org/madeira-2020/schedule-results/.
Day six action 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 all action from Madeira can also be followed 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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