Fourth Place for Katherine Downie at IPC World Champs
WAIS swimmer Katherine Downie has finished fourth in the women’s 100m freestyle S10 at the 2013 IPC Swimming Championships in Montreal, Canada.
The dual London Paralympic gold medallist was competing in the first of five individual events and recorded a time of 1:03.35mins for fourth place, just shy of a medal.
Gold went to New Zealander Sophie Pascoe who set a new world record of 1:00.15mins in finishing first ahead of France’s Elodie Lorandi and Canada’s Aurelie Rivard.
Downie will also contest the 100m breaststroke and backstroke, as well as the 200m individual medley and 50m freestyle.
The Australian Swim Team has made a golden start to their IPC World Championships campaign, picking up two gold and three bronze medals on the opening night of competition at the Parc Jean Drapeau Aquatic Complexin Montreal, Canada.
New South Wales swimmer Teigan Van Roosmalen claimed Australia’s first medal for the meet taking bronze in the women’s 200m individual medley SM13 final, hitting the wall in 2:38.27.
The men’s 50m freestyle S9 final was a crowd stopper as defending London Paralympic champion Matthew Cowdrey took to the blocks next to fellow Aussies Brenden Hall and debutant Rowan Crothers.
In the end it was Cowdrey (25.16) who took the top spot, winning Australia’s first gold medal for the meet.
Fifteen-year-old Crothers finished in third place touching the wall in 27.94 with Hall (28.05) in fourth.
Chandler swimmer Daniel Fox swam an impressive 200m freestyle S14 final, coming back from fourth at the halfway mark he picked up speed in the last 100m to nab Australia’s second gold medal of the night in 1:58.45, just 0.03 of a second off his world record time.
The last race of the evening saw London Paralympic silver medallist Taylor Corry and fellow Aussie Kayla Clarke go head to head in the women’s 200m freestyle S14 final.
The girls were side by side after the first 50m, but Corry got the edge over Clarke as she powered through to touch the wall in 2:13.45 winning the bronze medal ahead of Clarke (2:15.27) in fifth place.
– with SwimmingAustralia