COLORADO SPRINGS, Colorado, June 29. SEVEN American records fell at the Jimi Flowers Swim Classic over the weekend.
In the sprint events, Jonathan Heider took down the men's S3 50 fly record with a 1:42.74. That swim eclipsed his previous standard of 1:50.41. Tharon Drake cleared 39 seconds for the first time in the men's SB11 50 breast with a time of 38.69. His previous American record stood at 39.05 from 2010.
In the middle distance events, Michelle Fischer clipped her women's S6 200 back American standard with a 3:52.10. That performance bested her April 2011 mark of 3:52.22. Lance Lamback stopped the clock in 2:50.62 in the men's S7 200 back to erase his previous record of 2:51.99 from last year's Jimi Flowers Swim Classic. The 2010 swim was webcast on SwimmingWorld.TV in conjunction with USA Paralympics last year. Click here to watch the 2:51.99.
In the distance events, Alyssa Gialamas posted a 7:23.39 in the women's S5 400 freestyle event. That time crushed the previous record of 11:54.80 set by Ryan McLean in 2010. McLean, meanwhile, posted an American record in the women's S5 1500 free with a 40:03.67 swim. According to USA Paralympics information, that was the first complete 1500 free swim in the women's S5 division. Elizabeth Stone hit the wall in 20:28.71 in the women's S9 1500 free. That effort bettered her previous American record of 20:33.16 set in 2005.
The meet is in honor of Jimi Flowers, former USA Paralympic swimming head coach. Flowers passed away after a rock climbing accident in 2009, and the U.S. Paralympic swimming community came together to create a memorial meet in his honor.
USA Paralympics created a Jimi Flowers Tribute Video for this year's event.
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