Simone Barlaam Goes 5-for-5 with World Record to Wrap Para Worlds

Morgan Stickney; Photo Courtesy: USA Paraswimming

Simone Barlaam Goes 5-for-5 with World Record to Wrap Para Worlds

Italy’s Simone Barlaam made it 5-for-5 in individual events with a world record on the final day of the 2023 Para Swimming World Championships in Manchester, England.

Barlaam clocked in at 23.96 seconds to win the men’s S9 50 butterfly. The swim lowered his world record by four hundredths of a second. It’s his fifth gold in five individual events and took him to 20 career Worlds medals. He added his 21st in the mixed 400 free relay 34 points, teaming with Xenia Palazzo, Federico Bicelli and Alessia Scortechini.

Barlaam helped Italy win the gold medal count with 26 golds, though its 52 total medals were second to Ukraine’s 55 total, which included Oleksandr Komarov’s win in the S5 100 free. China added 51 medals.

Medal Table (G-S-B T)
Italy 26-15-11 52
Ukraine 20-13-22 55
China 18-20-13 51
Brazil 16-11-19 46
Great Britain 14-14-10 38
Australia 9-7-14 30
Canada 9-4-6 19
Spain 6-13-9 28
Netherlands 6-10-3 19
United States 6-7-12 25
Germany 6-7-4 17
France 4-6-6 16
Israel 4-1-3 8
Hungary 4-1-2 7
Colombia 3-6-2 11
Full medal table is here

It took a world record to deny Bicelli another gold in the men’s S7 100 freestyle. There, Andrii Trusov downed a world record he just missed by .04 at Worlds last year, held by David Roberts. This time, Trusov got that and gold in 1:00.09.

It’s his fifth gold medal of the meet and his sixth overall medal.

Their behind Trusov and Bicelli was Carlos Daniel Serrano Zarate of Colombia, who earlier set the SB7 world record in the 100 breast, winning a gold medal in the SB8 100 breast event. They are his fourth and fifth medals of the meet.

Barlaam was one of two swimmers to lower their world records on the final day of the seven-day meet. Jiang Yuyan of China knocked a single hundredth of a second off her mark in the S6 women’s 50 fly to win her third gold and fifth medal of the week.

Many of the week’s standout swimmers finished their time in Manchester on high notes.

Italy’s Stefano Raimondi got his fifth gold medal and sixth total medal by winning the men’s S10 100 backstroke. He edged out countryman Riccardo Menciotti.

Ami Omer Dadaon of Israel claimed his fourth gold by winning the men’s S4 200 free. Ukraine’s Denys Ostapchenko capped a 4-for-4 week by winning the men’s S3 100 free.

Alex Portal of France won the men’s SM13 200 individual medley for his third gold of the meet. Hungary’s Bianka Pap likewise completed a golden hat trick in the women’s S10 100 back, as did Italy’s Monica Boggioni by winning the women’s S5 100 free.

Carlotta Gilli added a fourth gold medal to go with two silvers in winning the women’s SM13 200 IM. The entire podium left with six medals on the meet, American Olivia Chambers adding a second silver to go with four bronzes. Brazil’s Maria Carolina Gomes Santiago garnered bronze to go with four golds.

The final day featured a pair of outstanding races. Czechia’s David Kratochvil edged Netherlands’ Rogier Dorsman by .09 seconds in the men’s S11 400 free. His winning time was 4:34.37. The medal was Dorsman’s sixth of the meet and 17th career.

In the women’s S14 100 fly, Hong Kong’s Yui Lam Chan edged out the Great Britain duo of Poppy Maskill and Bethany Firth, by .02 and .30 seconds, respectively.

France’s Laurent Chardard set a European record in the men’s S6 50 fly to win. Marianna Ribeiro of Brazil set a meet record in the women’s S9 50 fly. Gabriel Bandiera challenged his world record in winning the S14 100 fly, a meet in which an Oceania record by Benjamin Hance was good only for bronze (behind Alexander Hillhouse of Denmark).

The U.S. added a gold medal on the final day of competition, thanks to Morgan Stickney. She won the S7 100 free for her second title of the week, edging Colombia’s Sara Vargas Blanco and Canada’s Tess Routliffe.

Liesette Bruinsma of the Netherlands edged out China’s Cai Liwen in the S11 400 free. Spain’s Anastasiya Dmytriv started the night by winning the women’s SB8 100 breast.

Marta Fernandez Infante of Spain picked up her fourth medal of the meet in the S3 100 free. The silver in the event went to Ellie Challis, her sixth medal in a bid to add to her three golds.

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