2022 Para World Championships: Tully Kearney Takes Down 22-Year-Old World Record
Great Britain’s Tully Kearney downed a world record that had stood since 2000 in winning gold in the women’s S5 200 freestyle Friday night on the penultimate day of the 2022 Para World Championships.
Kearney went 2:42.36 in the 200 free, winning gold by nearly 12 seconds. It bested her competition record from 2019 (2:46.92), and it trounced the world record set at the Sydney Paralympics in 2000 by France’s Beatrice Hess at 2:44.61.
“That is just absolutely insane obviously, I’ve been adapting my training a bit because of my shoulder,” Kearney told British Swimming. “We kind of changed it up and did something slightly different to Tokyo with less miles but more intensity so I wasn’t quite sure what would happen over the longer distances but obviously it’s paid off and I just can’t believe how quick I went.
“I’ve got so many people to thank but the British Swimming physio and soft tissue therapists Sam (Baldwin) and Ritchie (Barber) have worked really hard on me tonight, I’ve really struggled recovering between heats and finals and if it wasn’t for them I wouldn’t have of been able to do that so I really grateful to them.”
Second was Monica Boggioni of Italy, with Japan’s Maori Yui third.
Kearney’s countrywoman Maisie Summers-Newton set a European record in 1:32.16 in the morning heats of the SB6 100 breaststroke. She was 0.03 seconds slower at night, but still won with ease, edging American Sophia Herzog by more than seven seconds.
Great Britain capped the night with the race of possibly the meet, a win in the S14 mixed medley relay. The squad of Poppy Maskill, Scott Quin, Reece Dunn and Bethany Ferth won in 4:09.29, edging the Australians by just one hundredth of a second. Britain was 11 seconds back after the opening leg and 13 behind at the midway point before Dunn (56.30) closed nine seconds and Firth brought it home in 57.64 to claw back a deficit of 3.61 seconds.
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The other world record of the penultimate night of the meet in Madeira, Portugal, went to Italy’s Simone Barlaam. He went 59.72 in the S9 100 backstroke, the only man under a minute. That skips a minute-point altogether, downing the world record 1:01.00 set at the Tokyo Paralympics by Russian Bogdan Mozgovoi, who was not participating at this meet. Frenchman Ugo Didier was also under the old mark, earning silver in 1:00.42.
The next-to-last night of the meet belonged to Ukraine, which won four of the first six events and five total golds. Anna Stetsenko started it with a European record of 4:34.56 in the women’s S13 400 free, with Kyrylo Garashchenko claiming the men’s race. Stetsenko just edged Australia’s Katja Dedekind, who set the Oceania record of 4:34.68.
Mykhailo Serbin set the meet record in the S11 100 back, outkicking Holland’s Rogier Dorsman by less than a second. Andrii Trusov added another victory by sprinting to the win in the S7 men’s 50 free. Anton Kol later won the S1 men’s 50 back, and Denys Ostapchenko picked up silver in the S3 men’s 200 free.
The Americans put together another stellar evening. McKenzie Coan won the S7 women’s 50 free, just a second ahead of Italy’s Giulia Terzi. Robert Griswold added another gold via the SM8 200 individual medley in 2:26.20.
Hannah Aspden fell just 0.69 seconds shy of gold in the women’s S9 100 back to earn silver, and Morgan Ray added silver in the SB6 men’s 100 breast.
Italy continued to stuff the medals table. Xenia Francesco Palazzo dominated the women’s SM8 200 IM in 2:51.54. Francesco Bocciardo controlled the field in the men’s S5 200 free. Martina Rabbolini won silver in the S11 women’s 100 back, as did Angela Procida in the S2 women’s 50 back and Stefano Raimondi in the S10 men’s 100 free.
Gabriel Geraldo dos Santos Araujo of Brazil set an America’s record in the men’s S2 50 back to win gold. Jose Ronaldo Da Silva also set an America’s record in the S1 50 back, though it only netted him silver behind Kol. Brazil also capped the night with a win in the 49pts mixed 400 free relay in 3:54.26, nearly five seconds up on Spain.
It was a big night for the America’s contingent. Aurelie Rivard of Canada set a meet record in the S10 women’s 100 free with a time of 59.43 seconds. Mexico’s Jesus Hernandez earned gold in the S3 200 free, as did Colombia’s Nelson Crispin Corzo in the men’s SB6 100 breast.
Australia’s Rowan Crothers also set a meet record in the S10 100 free. He went 50.70 seconds to outkick Raimondi by 0.47 seconds.
Spain’s Nuria Marques Soto won the S9 women’s 100 back, and Antoni Ponce Bertran earned silver in S5 200 free. Chikako Ono claimed the S11 women’s 100 back for Japan. Yip Pin Xiu picked up another gold in the S2 women’s 50 back.