Multiple Paralympic Records fell during prelims of day eight of the 2016 Paralympic Games, setting up for a swift finals session.
Men’s 100 Fly–S9
Tamas Sors enters finals of the men’s 100 fly S9 as the first place seed with a qualifying time of 1:00.58, leading the competition by close to a full second.
The field tightened from there with Italy’s Federico Morlacchi delivering a 1:01.57 for the second place seed. He was followed closely by Greece’s Dimosthenis Michalentzakis (1:01.91) and Croatia’s Kristijan Vincetic (1:01.92).
Cuba’s Juan Castillo Estevez took fifth in prelims with a 1:02.04, followed by Australia’s Brenden Hall (1:02.11).
Argentina’s Marco Pulleiro (1:04.25) and Spain’s Jose Antonio Mari Alcaraz (1:04.39) finished seventh and eighth.
Women’s 100 Fly–S9
China’s Xu Jialing led prelims of the women’s 100 fly S9 with a time of 1:09.43. Finishing close behind was Great Britain’s Claire Cashmore and the USA’s Elizabeth Smith with times of 1:09.77 and 1:09.95 respectively.
Sarai Gascon of Spain took fourth in prelims with a 1:10.59, just ahead of Hungary’s Zsofia Konkoly’s 1:10.75.
Ireland’s Ellen Keane took sixth with a 1:10.95, while the Australian duo of Madeleine Scott (1:10.96) and Emily Beecroft (1:10.97) rounded out the top eight.
Men’s 100 Breast–SB6
Nelson Crispin Corzo of Colombia and Ievgenii Bogodaiko of Ukraine kept a tight race in prelims of the men’s 100 breast SB6, finishing .14 seconds apart. Corzo stopped the clock first at a 1:22.74, just ahead of Bogodaiko’s 1:22.88.
Germany’s Torben Schmidtke rounded out the top three qualifiers with a 1:24.61 showing.
Norway’s Andreas Skaar Bjornstad took fourth with a 1:28.78, followed by a close race between China’s Di Yingbin (1:29.70) and Germany’s Christoph Burkard (1:29.90).
Spain’s Antoni Ponce Bertran finished seventh with a 1:30.49, while The Netherlands’ Thijs van Hofweegen was eighth with a 1:31.12.
Women’s 100 Breast–SB6
Australia’s Tiffany Thomas Kane surged ahead of the competition in prelims of the women’s 100 breast SB6 to stop the clock in Paralympic Record fashion at a 1:35.43. Kane currently holds the World Record at a 1:34.95.
Charlotte Henshaw of Great Britain and Sophia Elizabeth Herzog of the USA kept a tight race throughout, finishing .11 seconds apart. Henshaw claimed the second place seed with a 1:38.11 over Herzog’s 1:38,22.
Tanya Huebner of Australia posted a 1:42.66 to return as the fourth place seed, followed by Great Britain’s Eleanor Simmonds (1:43.49).
The USA’s Reilly Boyt (1:44.35), Ireland’s Nicole Turner (1:48.13), and Australia’s Kate Wilson (1:49.21) completed the top eight qualifiers.
Men’s 400 Free–S10
Maksym Krypak and Denys Duborv of Ukraine continued to deliver close finishes with a 1-3 qualification in prelims of the men’s 400 free S10. Krypak claimed the first place seed at a 4:05.72, while Dubrov turned in a 4:10.30 for third.
Bas Takken delivered a 4:08.60 finish for the second place seed.
Canada’s Benoit Huot finished fourth in prelims with a time of 4:10.58, while Australia’s Guy Harrison-Murray was fifth with a 4:11.54.
Ukraine’s Dmytro Vanzenko (4:13.33), Brazil’s Andre Brasil (4:13.34), and Australia’s Rowan Crothers (4:13.72) were sixth through eighth respectively.
Women’s 400 Free–S10
Canada’s Aurelie Rivard turned in a time of 4:40.86 to claim the first place seed in tonight’s finals of the women’s 400 free S10.
Bianka Pap of Hungary took second overall with a time of 4:42.81, while third went to Mexico’s Stefanny Rubi Cristino Zapata (4:43.98).
France’s Elodie Lorandi posted a time of 4:45.13 for fourth, ahead of Australia’s Monique Murphy and her time of 4:46.58.
Poland’s Oliwia Jablonska (4:47.30), The Netherlands’ Marije Oosterhuis (4:48.71), and France’s Anaelle Roulet (4:51.03) rounded out the top eight qualifiers.
Women’s 200 IM–SM5
Sarah Louise Rung of Norway surged ahead of the competition in prelims of the women’s 200 IM SM5, stopping the clock at a 3:19.54.
Israel’s Inbal Pezaro was next to the wall with a 3:37.62, followed by Spain’s Teresa Perales and her time of 3:40.65.
Bela Trebinova of the Czech Republic turned in a 3:41.06 for fourth, while fifth went to Belarus’ Natallia Shavel’s 3:41.11.
Italy’s Giulia Ghiretti (3:47.63), Brazil’s Susana Ribeiro (3:48.59), and China’s Wu Qi (3:49.44) took sixth through eighth.
Men’s 100 Free–S11
Bradley Snyder of the USA dashed ahead of the competition in the men’s 100 free S11 to qualify first with a time of 57.16–a new Paralympic Record. The World Record in this event has stood since 1986 when the USA’s John Morgan set it at Gothenburg.
China’s Yang Bozun posted the only other sub-minute swim, earning the second place seed with a 59.74.
Brazil’s Matheus Souza claimed third with a 1:00.17, just ahead of Belarus’ Hryhory Zudzilau’s 1:00.27.
Hendri Herbst of South Africa finished fifth in prelims with a 1:00.59, followed by Poland’s Wojciech Makowski’s 1:01.53.
Japan’s Keiichi Kimura (1:02.85) and the Czech Republic’s Miroslav Smrcka (1:03.20) finished seventh and eighth.
Women’s 100 Free–S11
Liesette Bruinsma of The Netherlands delivered the fastest times in prelims of the women’s 100 free S11, finishing with a time of 1:08.97.
A close race for second occurred between Italy’s Cecilia Camellini and China’s Li Guizhi. Camellini claimed the second place seed with a 1:09.10 finish over Li’s 1:09.22.
Chinese teammate Xie Qing turned in a 1:10.73 for fourth, followed by a close finish between New Zealand’s Mary Fisher (1:11.85) and Sweden’s Maja Reichard (1:11.98).
Ukraine’s Maryna Piddubna and the USA’s Letticia Martinez were seventh and eighth with times of 1:13.00 and 1:13.86 respectively.
Men’s 50 Back–S2
Prelims of the men’s 50 back S2 were led by the Chinese duo of Liu Benying and Zou Liankang. Liu delivered the fastest time, stopping the clock at a 52.14 over Zou’s 54.36. Fellow Chinese teammate Yang Yang was fourth with a 58.63.
Ukraine’s Serhii Palamarchuk finished third in prelims with a 57.98, while teammate Roman Bondarenko took fifth with a 1:01.24.
Poland’s Jacek Czech (1:02.28), Greece’s Aristeidis Makrodimitris (1:02.29), and Ukraine’s Ievgen Panibratets (1:03.18) completed the top eight qualifiers.