Sunday 25 May 2008

Sportsday *note to self: check more often!*

Paralympian Dave Roberts added to his freestyle world record collection by taking the 200m mark at the German Open Swimming championships.
Roberts, who competes in the S7 category, is now the world record holder over 50, 100, 200 and 400m.
Rising star Sam Hynd smashed the S8 200m freestyle mark in the morning heats with a time of 2:11.12.
The women's 50m backstroke also yielded success for the British team with Heather Frederiksen (S8) and Stephanie Millward (S9) breaking European and world records respectively in the heats. Frederiksen, a former open water swimmer, twice lowered the European record, touching home in her heat in 38.04 before lowering it further to 37.53 seconds in the final to win the silver medal.
Millward showed her strength in the heats to claim her world record in a time of 33.84.
There was a silver medal for Charlotte Henshaw in the 100m breaststroke while Eleanor Simmonds took gold in the 200m freestyle youth final where she was followed home by Louise Watkin.

Paralympic World Cup, Manchester.

For the British team, the last major international competition before the Games gives real hope for a golden summer of Paralympic achievement after the host nation won 21 gold medals.

Wheelchair basketball: The British women won bronze with a 57-34 score over Brazil, with Sally Wager weighing in with an impressive 27 points.
As ever, cycling saw a number of world records fall, predominantly to the British team and in doing so claimed an impressive haul of nine golds, with Anthony Kappes, Aileen McGlynn, and Darren Kenny each achieving double glory.
But one of the headline grabbing stories surrounded three-time Paralympic Judo gold medallist Simon Jackson, who only took up cycling three weeks ago. Jackson scooped silver behind Kappes in the tandem in 1.04.982 minutes.
The 35-year-old said: “I’m not even in my third week of cycling yet so it is absolutely fantastic.
More success in the pool they dominated proceedings. Sascha Kindred left the rest of the 100m breaststroke field trailing in his waves as he clocked 1.25.47 minutes with British team mate Matt Whorwood picking up third with a time of 1.33.95 minutes. Youngster Sam Hynd, Paralympic champion Natalie Jones, and rising star Heather Frederiksen all broke world records in an action packed afternoon.
On track, Britain’s David Weir was also in impressive form, winning the 400m and 1500m to confirm his impressive pedigree ahead of Beijing.

Bowls: Alison Merrien beat world number one Val Smith in the final of the 2008 World Indoor Cup at the Warilla Bowls Club in Australia on Friday.
The Guernsey star won the first set 17-3, lost the second 1-10 and took the resulting tie-break 4-0.
It completes a double for her, having won November's 2007 World Champion of Champions at the same venue.
Merrien said: "I'm on the top of the world - it's fantastic to do it once here but twice is even better."
MERRIEN'S PREVIOUS FINALS
2001 - WIBC Pairs - Winner with Adrian Welch
2002 - WIBC Pairs - Runner-up with Adrian Welch
2004 - WIBC Pairs - Winner with Neal Mollet
2004 - World Outdoor Champion of Champions Singles - Runner-up
2006 - WIBC Pairs - Runner-up with Nick Donaldson
2007 - World Outdoor Champion of Champions Singles - Winner

Canoeing: Great Britain finished with two gold medals at the European flat-water Championships after victories for Tim Brabants and Lucy Wainwright in Milan.

14 year old Tom Daley and Blake Aldridge claimed a first-ever gold for Britain at the Fina Diving World Series to stake their claim for a place at the Olympics.
The duo won the 10m platform synchronised title, scoring a perfect 10 for their second dive in Sheffield.

I just caught the final few laps of the North West 200, won by an emotional Michael Dunlop. His father, motorcycle legend Robert Dunlop was killed in a high-speed crash during a practice lap for the races on Thursday. Knowing how focused you have to be in any competitive sport makes it all the more remarkable that he was able to complete the course in the 250cc race, let alone achieve victory. Illustrates once more the guts and determination you need to succeed at the top and why the world of sport arouses such passion in most of us.

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