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Brits on form at the National Para-Swimming Championships

This weekend, two World, two European and five British records were broken in the first national para-swimming competition since the Rio Games. With 16 swimming Rio Paralympics medallists taking part, it was a full house for the National Para-Swimming Championships in Manchester.

Jessica-Jane Applegate profile picture

Over 250 Para-Swimmers competed at the Manchester Aquatics Centre on 10 and 11 December. Amongst the talented line-up was double Paralympic silver and bronze medallist (200m freestyle, 200 individual medley and 100m backstroke), Jessica-Jane Applegate.

The UEA Norwich swimmer, 20, broke two World and two European in the S14 100m butterfly and S14 400m freestyle. She clocked 1:06.86 in the butterfly, breaking her own World mark set in last year’s event- also a British record. Soon after, she smashed the 400m freestyle World record in 4:31:05, knocking over seven seconds off the old time.

Her S14 rival, Bethany Firth, was in great form too after the Rio Paralympics where she took three golds and a silver. Firth's 50m split time (35:18secs) in the 100m breaststroke was enough for a new British record.

Meanwhile, Stephen Clegg’s 100m backstroke split time for 50m secured him a new British record in the S12 class (31:03secs).

Suzanne Warren (UEA Norwich), who as an S4 swimmer is in the lower classifications for those with physical impairments, broke the 50m backstroke British record (1:00:03). Sophie Woodward (Nova Centurion) knocked over 14 seconds off the S3 50m Butterfly British record, touching in 1:19.88.

In addition to established swimmers like Warren, there were four swimmers with lower classifications from the England talent programme taking part this weekend. This shows the sport’s continued commitment to identifying swimmers in the lower classes. Newcomers Harvey Phillips (Louth) and Ellie Challis (Colchester), both only 12 and swimming in the S4 class, showed excellent form as they set new personal bests.

This event is renowned for highlighting swimmers to watch in the future, especially now leading up to Tokyo 2020. Loughborough student Kahoru Harazawa was in top form this weekend, where he came close to the British record he set in the S10 200m individual medley at the recent BUCS Short Course Championships 2016 in Sheffield. Talking about his hopes for the future, he said:

“I’ve been doing a lot of short course training so to get personal bests is really good. I want to enjoy this year and that’s the attitude I have gone with since the start of the season. We’ve got the World Championships next year and Tokyo’s on my mind.”

On the first day, the crowd was treated to a ‘Parade of Champions’ to celebrate the successful year of Para-Swimming. The medallists taking part in the Championships were presented to the audience, including Eleanor Robinson, Hannah Russell and Michael Jones.

In September, a squad of 30 para-swimmers represented Great Britain at the Rio Paralympic Games. They claimed an incredible 47 medals in the pool, eight more than London 2012. Our Para-Swimming team totalled 16 gold, 16 silver and 15 bronze medals.

This event is organised by the English Federation of Disability Sport (EFDS) in partnership with British Swimming. EFDS exists to make active lives possible. To do this we enable organisations to support disabled individuals to be and stay active. Established in September 1998, EFDS has a vision that disabled people are active for life.

Jannine Walker, National Events Manager at EFDS, said:

“We are really proud of the events we deliver. Our partnerships are crucial to ensure more disabled people can access more opportunities. Events like this also enable our partners to also identify and develop talent.
“Thank you to all those involved in the competition. Without the volunteers and officials, we would not be able to run such an important and memorable event.”

Please click the link to access the full event results. For event or swimmer information, please contact:

  • Jannine Walker, EFDS National Events Manager. Email: Jannine Walker  Mobile: 07725 273158
  • Sarah Marl, EFDS Marketing and Communications Manager. Email Sarah Marl Mobile: 07764 291671
  • For more swimmer information or interviews, please contact Gemma Field, British Swimming’s Senior Communications Officer on Gemma.Field@swimming.org or 07917 726431.