Sheffield, Great Britain will host the season-opener of the World Series 2021 with the Ponds Forge International Swimming Centre welcoming 92 athletes from 21 countries from Thursday to Sunday (8 to 11 April).
The World Series will be streamed
live on the World Para Swimming website www.worldparaswimming.org and Facebook
page https://www.facebook.com/paraswimming.
The event will run with no spectators
and COVID-19 protocols in place.
Sheffield last hosted the World
Series in 2018 and among those hoping to be on the podium again is Great
Britain’s Paralympic and world champion Hannah Russell.
“I am thankful and privileged to be
given the opportunity to race [in Sheffield] at one of my favourite pools,”
said the class S12 swimmer.
Russell has already competed twice
this year. She won two mixed class events, 50m freestyle and 100m backstroke,
at an international meet in Manchester in February and lowered her times at a
second meet in the city last month.
Her success has boosted her
confidence going into Sheffield and the Paralympic trials for Tokyo 2020.
“Performing a season’s best time, and
strong performances in Manchester, have provided me with belief and confidence
ahead of the Paralympic trials,” she said.
“It was extremely disappointing the
Paralympic Games were postponed, but I approached it with a positive mindset.
An extra year of training has been beneficial for me, and a great opportunity
to get stronger and further excel as an athlete and a person.”
Other British stars in the team
include Alice Tai (S8) who is the reigning World Series champion. She also
secured a record-breaking seven gold medals at the London 2019 World Para
Swimming Allianz Championships.
The top titles have also been won by
Stephanie Millward (S9), who at 39 is the oldest of the 41 British swimmers in
the squad. World champions Tully Kearney (S5) and Reece Dunn (S14) are in the
line-up, too.
STAR VISITORS
Israel and France have the next
biggest teams: the visitors include countries from across Europe, Egypt, Japan,
Iceland, Mexico, Russia and Uganda.
Current men’s 400m freestyle S7 world
champion, Mark Malyar, will fly the flag for Israel alongside his twin brother
Ariel (S4).
Paralympic Champion Dimosthenis
Michalentzakis is the big hope for Greece. The only Para swimmer from his
country at the event will compete in the 50m freestyle S8.
An Nishida (S7) is one of the five
Japanese swimmers competing in Sheffield dreaming to win a medal for the host
nation in Tokyo in August. Nishida will pit herself against some of the best in
the world in the women’s 50m butterfly multiclass race.
At just 14-year-old, Husnah
Kukundakwe is Uganda’s only classified elite Para swimmer. She made her first
appearance at London 2019 and will race in freestyle and breaststroke S9.
“We’re really looking forward to this
year’s British Para Swimming International Meet in Sheffield and the start of
the World Para Swimming World Series, after so long away from competition like
this,” said Chris Furber, British Swimming’s National Performance Director.
“It will be great to see everyone
racing again from Britain and around the world following the 12-month break.
The meet is also a key opportunity for our athletes to gain a selection time
for the Paralympic Games.”
Furber confirmed COVID-19 protections
would be in place for athletes and staff: “We will deliver the event in as safe
a way as possible and follow all the necessary guidelines and protocols.”
The Sheffield 2021 World Series is
organised by British Swimming and World Para Swimming. It is the first of five
legs, with the next in Lewisville, USA and Lignano Sabbiadoro, Italy next week.
At the end of a World Series’ season,
the best female and best male swimmers’ awards are picked based on rankings. In
2019 Alice Tai and Spain’s Antoni Ponce claimed the women’s and men’s titles,
respectively.
The World Series were launched in
2017 bringing together some of the most traditional Para swimming competitions
on the global calendar.
More than 1,300 athletes from 84
countries took part in the 2019 edition. Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, only two
series were held in 2020 in Melbourne, Australia and Berlin, Germany.
Complete results from Sheffield 2021
will be available on https://results.swimming.org/disability/results/2021/bpsim/
FOTO ⒸAtsushi Tomura/Getty
Images for Tokyo 2020
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.
Michael Phelps Teaches Swimming
Most of us can swim, but there’s a
difference between dog paddling on vacation and swimming for fitness. If you’re
looking to unlock the low-impact, calorie-burning benefits of swimming, check
out this course from Michael Phelps on This Skills. The 26-time Olympic gold
medalist will cover everything you need to feel confidant and comfortable
swimming laps. You’ll learn all the basic strokes, plus wall kicking, diving
and other techniques, but you’ll also get a glimpse into the mindset of the
most decorated Olympian of all time.
No comments:
Post a Comment