World and Paralympic champion Ellie Simmonds won gold on the final day of the Para-Swimming International Swimming Meet 2014 in Glasgow.
Simmonds lowered her 400m Freestyle qualifying time by over one second to finish in 5:26.52 and take her second medal of the competition with 934 points.
"The 400m Free is one of my favourite races so it’s great to have won the gold"
- Ellie Simmonds
The S6 world record holder secured her third qualification time and travels to Berlin this week for the German Open.
The Loughborough University swimmer said: “The 400m Free is one of my favourite races so it’s great to have won the gold and finish within the qualifying standard for the IPC European Championships.
“I’m really happy with how the Meet has gone. The final was a bit more difficult because I didn’t have Susie [Rodgers] swimming next to me like I did in the heats, but being on the opposite side of the pool was ok because I just swam my own race.
“I’m really enjoying training with the Loughborough guys. Swimming close to my PBs this week has shown how good the move has been and being in a new environment and closer to home is great.”
Spain’s Deborah Font (S12) took silver with 910 points (4:46.24) and Kelly College’s Hannah Russell (S12) took her second bronze medal of the competition with 855 points (4:52.21).
The men’s 400m Freestyle was dominated by British athletes but it was Nova Centurion’s Ollie Hynd who came out on top to take gold with 983 points.
The S8 swimmer’s personal best time of 4:27.64 was one second outside of his brother Sam’s world record. He said: “I’m really pleased with that final. I wanted to come back and push myself a little bit to see what I’ve got in me. To swim a 4:27 is really good for where I am right now.
“This morning was the fastest heat swim I’ve ever done and to do a PB now makes me really excited to see how fast I can go this summer.
“I was really close to Sam’s world record tonight and although I didn’t quite do it today, I’m getting closer.”
S7 swimmer Jonathan Fox (City of Manchester Aquatics) finished with 904 points (4:48.73) to add a silver medal to the 100 Backstroke gold he won yesterday.
Josef Craig (S8) finished 0.02 seconds outside the personal best he set in the heats to finish in 4:38.49 to give him bronze with 872 points.
Bethany Firth (City of Newcastle) secured her fourth gold of the competition in the S14 200m Freestyle and scored a world best time of 2:06.93 to give 1097 points.
Firth, who will be eligible to compete for Great Britain from August 2014, has taken gold in all the events she has entered, having already claimed the 100m Backstroke, 100m Breaststroke and 200m Individual Medley titles.
Jessica-Jane Applegate (UEA Norwich) took silver with 955 points, finishing within the S14 European qualification standard with a 2:11.90 swim, and Russia’s Valeriia Shabalina took bronze with 945 points.
Andrew Mullen took his second medal of the competition, winning gold in the MC 50m Backstroke with 721 points.
Mullen’s time of 39.03 was an S5 British record and within the European qualifying time. He also met the European standard in the S5 200m Freestyle heats.
The Glasgow-based Ren96 swimmer said: “That was a really good final for me. I managed to execute it really well and felt really strong. I was pleased to go half a second faster than this morning and although I wanted to dip under 39 seconds, I was really close so maybe next time.
“My aim now is to go to Europeans and win gold. I’m confident in my own ability and that I can do that and I think leaving on a 39.03 is perfect motivation to go under the 39 there.”
In the women’s MC 50m Backstroke Colchester Phoenix’s Suzanne Warren (S5) took bronze with a personal best 59.47 for 275 points.
Warren finished behind gold medal winner Pin Xiu Yip (S3, Singapore) with 877 points and Lisette Teunissen (S4, the Netherlands) with 790 points.
Iceland’s Jon Margeir Sverrisson (S14) took gold in the men’s 200m Freestyle with 977 points, leaving British S14 athletes Craig Rodgie and Thomas Hamer battling for second place on the podium.
Edinburgh University’s Rodgie finished just 0.13 seconds ahead of Hamer to take silver with 876 points (2:03.35), with Hamer (Burnley) getting 876 points (2:03.87). Both were just outside the European qualification time.
Other British athletes swimming within the European qualification standard on the final day include Chloe Davies (S14, 200m Freestyle), Susie Rodgers (S7, 400m Freestyle), Amy Marren (S9, 400m Freestyle), Steph Millward (S9, 400m Freestyle) and Rob Welbourn (S10, 400m Freestyle).