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It was a solid day for the Paralympics High Performance Team, with all of the four swimmers in action achieving Minimum Qualifying Standards (MQS) for Tokyo 2020. Tupou Neiufi (Women’s 100 Backstroke S8), Sophie Pascoe (Women’s 100 Backstroke S9), Jesse Reynolds (Men’s 100 Backstroke S9) and Nikita Howarth (Women’s 50 Butterfly S7). All para swimmers posted times making them eligible for nomination.
For Jesse and Nikita, their heat swims were fractions off their PBs, and while they couldn’t improve for the finals, they set themselves as 4th and 6th respectively in the world rankings over the past two years of Paralympic qualifying. In her final, Tupou swam comfortably her best time since winning silver in the 2019 World Championships, to be right on her goal time for this competition and set as 3rd in the world rankings.
Graeme Maw, the Para Swimming Programme Leader says, “These Championships are a critical selection meet and a stepping stone to Tokyo, with the overriding goal being to secure nomination while continuing to prepare. So, while none of the above are PBs, in ongoing preparation they are good indicators of tracking.”
In the overall scheme of events, there were excellent performances from 14-year-old Wharenui youngster, Gabriella Smith (S10), who took 3.2 seconds off her PB, winning silver in the Women’s 100 Backstroke behind Tupou. Another fellow Wharenui youngster, 15-year-old Lili-Fox Mason (S10) shaved 1.4 seconds off her PB, claiming the bronze medal in the Women’s 50 Butterfly behind Sophie and Nikita.
Lance Dunstow of Greendale Swim Club (S14) was 1.5 seconds off his PB and claimed his very first NZ Open title in the Men’s 50 Butterfly.
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