Newyddion
Beijing Paralympic Update Day Two
8 Medi 2008
Day Two saw the momentum carried forward from the Cycling successes of Day One.
All eyes were on the Water Cube, with 7-time Gold medallist David Roberts, from Llantwit Fadre, going in the first of five races. With the 100m freestyle World Record under his belt from the Trials back in May, Roberts felt confident of success. In the morning heats, Roberts was well ahead of the pack, claiming a Paralympic Record of 1:00.8.
Going into the final he had his main threats either side of him in the pool, with team mate Matt Walker on one side, with American Lance Lambeck on the other.
Roberts was behind the two after 15m, as he always has a slow start, but by the 25m mark had comfortably passed both swimmers to set a comfortable lead. At the turn, of 29.01secs, it was Roberts’s race to lose, but he powered home in a time of 1:00.35 to break the Paralympic Record yet again.
Roberts was joined on the rostrum by fellow Swansea based swimmer, Eleanor Simminds. Birmingham born Simmonds, only 13 years of age, moved to Swansea, studying at Olchfa Comprehensive School, to be near British Swimming High Performance Coach, Billy Pye. Her faith in Billy was justified as she came home to Gold in the 100m S6 Freestyle race.
After a strange recall for the 400m Freestyle S13 race, Rhiannon Henry, of Bridgend, had to return to the call room, only to be called up again a few minutes for the race. This impacted on her perfomance, finishing outside the medals in 5th place.
Elsewhere, at the Table Tennis, Scott Robertson kicked off his campaign with a convincing 3 – 0 win over American Andre Scott. Paul Karbadark lost in 3 straight games to tough Chinese player, Chaoquan Ye, taking full advantage of his home crowd.
On the track, although running a Seasons Best in the 100m sprint, Tracy Hinton, with Guide Runner Steffan Hughes, narrowly missed out on a Final spot by 0.05secs.
Out in Qingdao, the Sailing Venue, Bridgend Sailor Stephen Thomas embarked on the 10 Race Challenge over the next 5 days. Day One saw the Sonar Three man Crew take 9th and 3rd. Thomas, Bridgend, goes again tomorrow in another two races.
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