Para-Swimming stars heading to World Championships

Paralympics New Zealand (PNZ) is thrilled to announce their team for the 2015 IPC Swimming World Championships in Glasgow in July. This follows a stellar week of competition at the Swimming NZ Open Championships where eight Para-Swimmers earned their place with outstanding performances.

Six of the eight strong team will recall their historical performances at the 2013 IPC Swimming World Championships where the New Zealand won 15 medals – the biggest ever medal haul by a New Zealand team at this event. This included 12 Gold medals and three World Records, with the team placing fourth on the medal table.

Jon Shaw (Head Performance Coach, Para-Swimming) said, “We have got a very strong team with great depth of experience and enthusiasm.” He continues, “They have shown amazing form in the pool this week and we believe we have a high chance of medal success in Glasgow.”

The team includes six Paralympians. Sophie Pascoe will undoubtedly go into the World Championships with high hopes after setting two World Records at the Swimming NZ Open Championships this week. Also in blistering form this week was Cameron Leslie who swam his fastest time since London 2012 in the 150m Individual Medley.

Mary Fisher and Nikita Howarth recorded times this week that will see them go to Glasgow ranked number one in the world for 2014 in their top events.

Paralympian Rebecca Dubber will look to build on her performances at the Pan Pacific Para-Swimming Championships last year where she swam her fastest times since London 2012.

Jesse Reynolds will join the team and is eagerly looking forward to his second World Championships event.

An exciting addition to the team is newcomer Hamish McLean. At just 15 years of age Hamish is looking to gain invaluable experience from this event. He will be joined by Georgia Gray, also her first World Championships event.

Malcolm Humm (High Performance Director, PNZ) said, “This has been a tremendous week for New Zealand in the sport of Para-Swimming. In 2012 PNZ developed a strategy with the intent of being a world leader in the sport of Para-Swimming. We set a goal to produce more athletes who would reach the level required to achieve medal winning performances at the Rio 2016 and Tokyo 2020 Paralympic Games. With the performance of the likes of Hamish McLean and Georgia Gray believe we are tracking well towards this goal due to athletes being recipients of high quality coaching and support services from High Performance Sport New Zealand.”

Full team list includes: