Golden glow continues on Day 4 of IPC Swimming World Championships

The New Zealand Para-Swimming team once again added to their medal haul in Glasgow this morning winning two gold medals and one silver medal.

Mary Fisher held her nerve this morning in a thrilling sprint finish to win Gold by 0.11 second. She swam down her rival Daniela Schulte (Germany) in the last 50 metres to take the world title in the Women’s SM11 200m Individual Medley. Schulte went into the final with the fastest time but could not match the finishing speed of Fisher.

"It's amazing to be a world champion," Fisher said. "I feel in a lot of ways my life is split pre-and post-London and especially in this 200m individual medley race. Whenever I'm racing against Daniela Schulte, she's a real force to be reckoned with."

Sophie Pascoe left it all in the pool today as she won silver in the Women’s S10 100m Backstroke (01:07.52). Pascoe executed the race well and swam very close to a personal best.

New Zealand’s youngest ever Paralympian Nikita Howarth was in blistering form as she defended her world title and won gold in the Women’s SM7 200m Individual Medley (02:59.85). Sixteen year old Howarth took control of the race in an outstanding breaststroke leg and did not look back. She continued to extend her lead winning by nearly 5 seconds to silver medallist Canadian Tess Routliffe (03:04.75). This is only the second time ever that Howarth swam under three minutes in this event.

Jon Shaw (Head Performance Coach, Para-Swimming) said, “This was a great day of exhilarating racing for the team. Mary and Nikita really showed their strength and ability in their individual events and Sophie’s determination puts us in good stead for the next 12 months. We now have five Rio 2016 Paralympic Games slots secured for the nation so far and look forward to selection of the team in April next year.”

Jesse Reynolds was in action in the heat of the Men’s S9 50m Freestyle placing 7^th in time of 28:63. Although Reynolds did not qualify for the final he swam a personal best time.

All eyes will once again be on the Kiwis as six of the team take to the pool on Day 5 aiming to add to the medal tally. The New Zealand Para-swimming team have now won 11 medals including 5 gold, 4 silver and 2 bronze.

Watch finals action live on www.attitudelive.com/glasgow

Day 4 Results: