MANCHESTER,
UNITED KINGDOM – Team USA brought home four more medals, including a second
title of the meet from Morgan Stickney (Cary, North Carolina), as the 2023 Para
Swimming World Championships concluded with a seventh day of competition at the
Manchester Aquatics Centre.
World
championships rookie Olivia Chambers (Little Rock, Arkansas) added a silver
medal, while
Paralympians
McClain Hermes (Dacula, Georgia) and Elizabeth Marks (Colorado Springs,
Colorado) each brought home bronze to bring Team USA’s total on the meet to 25.
The
Americans wrapped competition finishing 8th in the overall medal count.
Chambers led the charge with six medals, while Noah Jaffe (Carlsbad,
California) earned five. Stickney and Jessica Long (Baltimore, Maryland) won
two gold medals apiece to lead Team USA.
Already a
world champion in the 400-meter freestyle S7, Stickney sprinted to her second
world title of the meet in the 100-meter freestyle S7 in convincing fashion.
Her time of 1:09.29 was nearly three seconds ahead of the rest of the field.
“I’m
really excited,” she said. “I don’t get to sprint very often, so it’s always
fun to get to do that. These are some amazing competitors I get to go against,
and it was a really fun race.”
Stickney’s
win is her fourth career world championships gold medal. The two-time
Paralympic champion will look to qualify for her second Paralympic Games next
summer.
“It’s so
fun to be here and so fun to be a part of Team USA,” she said. “I’m so excited
to see what training looks like and what the next year has to bring.”
Teammate
Julia Gaffney (Mayflower, Arkansas) earned a spot in the 100-meter freestyle S7
finals alongside Stickney, but elected not to compete in the evening session.
Her preliminary time of 1:15.97 would have ranked her sixth in the finals.
Gaffney has had a busy meet, earning three medals in five events.
The
two-time Paralympian Hermes swam to her first world championships medal since
2017, securing bronze in the women’s 400-meter freestyle S11 with a time of
5:18.66.
For
Hermes, the medal was redemption after a fourth-place finish in the event at
the 2022 world championships.
“I had a
really good prelim swim today, and knew I had to keep it together for the
finals,” Hermes said. “I did something similar last year where I swam really
fast in the morning and then fell apart at night, so I knew that I needed to go
out strong and hold onto it. I’m really happy to go another personal best time
tonight and to get a medal.”
Hermes
attributed her medal in part to her recent shift to training as a dual-sport
athlete in both swimming and paratriathlon. She recently graduated from Loyola
University Maryland and has transitioned to living at the United States Olympic
& Paralympic Training Center in Colorado Springs, Colorado.
“My training
has really changed,” she said. “I learned how to ride a bike and run in the
last year, and that has really benefitted my training. I’m swimming less, but
I’m doing so much more cardio and cross-training that it’s really impacting my
swimming for the better. It’s really great to be competing in two sports right
now and seeing growth in both.”
The medal
is Hermes’ sixth career world championships podium.
Chambers,
meanwhile, completed a perfect six-for-six podium performances in her world
championships debut, taking her second consecutive silver medal in the women’s
200-meter individual medley SM13. Chambers wrapped her meet with a time of
2:28.23, putting herself comfortably in the silver medal position.
The
20-year-old will return home with four bronze medals to accompany her two
silvers in what has been a dominant and well-rounded first world championships.
She won medals in three freestyle events, plus butterfly and breaststroke, then
put it all together for her individual medley medal tonight.
She will
seek her first Paralympic Games berth next summer.
Teammate
and Paralympic medalist Colleen Young (St. Louis, Missouri) returned to the
pool for her final race of the meet and placed fifth behind Chambers. Young won
silver in the women’s 100-meter breaststroke SB13 earlier in the week, adding
her 12th career world championships medal.
The
five-time Paralympic medalist Marks swam to her second bronze medal of the
meet, snagging a podium finish in the women’s 50-meter butterfly S6
competition. Marks’ time of 36.80 was just .3 seconds off the silver medal
pace, and just over two seconds behind the world record and gold medal-winning
time set by Yuyan Jiang of China.
Marks
also earned bronze in the 200-meter individual medley SM6 earlier in the week.
She adds her fourth and fifth world championships medals to her resumé in
Manchester as she tries for her third Paralympic Games next summer.
Paralympic
silver medalist David Abrahams (Havertown, Pennsylvania), already a Manchester
medalist in the men’s 100-meter breaststroke SB13, just missed his second medal
of the week in the men’s 200-meter individual medley SM13. Abrahams put
together a strong second half of the medley in the breaststroke and freestyle
legs and was just out-touched at the wall, finishing .29 seconds off the bronze
medal pace. Abrahams is set to return to Harvard University for his senior
season on the men’s swimming team.
After
winning a bronze medal in last night’s 200-meter freestyle, Paralympic silver
medalist Leanne Smith (Salem, Massachusetts) finished her meet with a
fifth-place result in the women’s 100-meter freestyle S3. She swam to a time of
2:05.61 in her sixth race of the week.
Team
USA’s mixed 4x100-meter freestyle relay finals team, comprised of Stickney,
Jaffe, Jamal Hill (Inglewood, California) and Audrey Kim (Salt Lake City, Utah)
combined for a fifth-place finish in the mixed 4x100-meter freestyle relay 34
pts. to cap the meet for the Americans. Team USA swam to a time of 4:12.75.
The
prelims relay team of Jaffe, Hill, Lizzi Smith (Muncie, Indiana) and Long
finished second in their heat to qualify Team USA’s finals team into the
evening session.
Hill also
earned a fourth-place finish in the men’s 50-meter freestyle S9 just before
competing in the relay finals. The Paralympic bronze medalist missed the podium
by just .16 seconds in one of the closest Team USA finishes in Manchester. He
and Stickney both raced both individual and relay races on the day.
Lizzi
Smith, who swam in the prelim relay and qualified for the women’s 50-meter
freestyle S9 final in the morning session, took a sixth-place finish in the
event final. The three-time Paralympic medalist’s top finish of the week was
fourth in the women’s 100-meter butterfly S9.
Paralympian
Lawrence Sapp (Waldorf, Maryland) earned a seventh-place finish in the men’s
100-meter butterfly S14 competition, his signature event and only race of the
meet. Sapp swam nearly identical times between his prelim and his final,
finishing in 58.10 and 58.09, respectively.
Rounding
out Team USA’s results was Paralympic champion Hannah Aspden (Raleigh, North
Carolina), who wrapped her meet with a sixth-place finish in her heat of the
women’s 50-meter freestyle S9.
With 2023
Para Swimming World Championships competition concluded, Team USA turns to its next
major meet: the 2023 ParaPan American Games in Santiago, Chile, this November.
Follow U.S. Paralympics Swimming on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram for updates
on the team.
For media
requests and photo inquiries, please contact Kristen Gowdy at Kristen.Gowdy@usopc.org.
Team USA
Medals – August 5
GOLD
Morgan
Stickney – women’s 100-meter freestyle S7
SILVER
Olivia
Chambers – women’s 200-meter individual medley SM13
BRONZE
McClain
Hermes – women’s 400-meter freestyle S11
Elizabeth
Marks – women’s 50-meter butterfly S6
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