| World Record and Gold Medal for Brian Hill at Para-Swimming World Championships |
|
RIO DE JANEIRO (December 1, 2009) Visually impaired swimmer Brian Hill of Duncan, B.C., broke his world short course record and won the gold medal on Tuesday in the men's 100-metre butterfly at the Para-swimming world championships for swimmers with a disability. Hill, a three-time Paralympic Games team member, clocked 57.04 seconds lowering his S13 disability category world mark of 1:00.52. In 2007, Hill had tied fellow Canadian Walter Wu's record set in 2003. It was Canada's first gold of the competition. After three days the Canadian team has seven medals - one gold, two silver and four bronze. "This is the first ever major international short course competition for swimmers with a disability so it had been a long time since I'd been fully prepared for a short course meet," said Hill, 26, now based in Montreal. "I'm pretty happy with the result overall. Technically it was very good; my turns were a big factor in my time along with my underwater which is another key to short course swimming." Devin Gotell of Antigonish, N.S., was sixth. Nathan Stein of Maple Ridge, B.C., smashed the Canadian record in the S9 100 breaststroke clocking 1:09.12. Benoit Huot of Montreal held the previous mark at 1:13.49 set in 2004. ‘'I was very happy with that performance,'' said Stein, 17, in his worlds debut. ‘'I was moving really well through the water. I was pretty nervous on the blocks and I use that energy to put everything I got into that race.'' Other Canadian men's results on Tuesday: Nick Lapointe of Victoria was sixth in the S6 200 individual medley; Danial Murphy of Sackville, N.S., was seventh in the S5 100 freestyle; while Jean-Michel Lavallière of Quebec City and Kyle McMahon of Prince George, B.C., were ninth and 11th respectively in the S7 200 IM. In women's competition, Amber Thomas of Drayton Valley, Alta., was third in the S11 400 freestyle. However she was not awarded a medal because there were three entries. The top-two advanced to the podium. Also, Camille Bérubé of Gatineau, Que., and Sarah Mailhot of Quebec City were fourth and fifth respectively in the S8 400 freestyle; Canada was fifth in the 4X100 freestyle relay with Morgan Bird of Calgary, Brianna Jennet-McNeill of Ottawa, Brianna Nelson of Victoria and Sarah Mehain of Vernon, B.C.; Catherine Mitchell of Winnipeg was ninth in the S12 100 butterfly; and Jenna Skieneh of Windsor, Ont., 10th in the S9 100 breaststroke. Competition continues through to Saturday. |
