NZ Move Up The Medal Table at 2013 IPC Swimming World Championships

On Day 6 of the IPC Swimming World Championships the New Zealand team continued to reinforce their reputation as a world force passing Australia to sit in sixth place on the medal table.  Sophie Pascoe and Cameron Leslie once again led the way with a gold medal each with Pascoe breaking the Oceania record in her event.  Not to be outshone team mate Nikita Howarth secured bronze.  With one day to go of the World Championships the New Zealand medal tally is now 12 medals, including 9 gold.

Sophie Pascoe swam a gripping race in the Women’s 100m Backstroke S10, setting a new Oceania record of 1 minute 5.95 seconds, just five hundredths of a second off the world mark.  She led Nina Ryabova of Russia (1:10.50) and Katherine Downie of Australia.

London Paralympic gold medallist and world record holder Cameron Leslie went into the Men’s 150m Individual Medley SM4 clear that he would defend his title.  He swam a commanding race convincingly beating Takayuki Suzuki of Japan and Jonas Larsen of Denmark to gold by almost 6 seconds.

Nikita Howarth, showed why she was selected as New Zealand’s youngest ever Paralympian as she swam a strong race winning bronze in the Women 50m Fly S7, her first medal at world championship level.  She joined Brianna Nelson of Canada (gold) and Susannah Rodgers of Great Britain (silver) on the podium.

Jon Shaw (Head Swim Performance Coach, Paralympics New Zealand) says, “Our team is truly making their mark on this meet.”  He continues, “With only one day left of the World Championships and five of our swimmers in the pool it is going to be a great day.”

Live streaming and event replays available at: http://www.youtube.com/user/ParalympicSportTV