First record falls in swimming

The first World Games for the Deaf record fell at Queen Elizabeth II pool in the first session of the swimming today.

Britain’s Martin Lee clocked 1:08.75 in the 100m breaststroke. He finished nearly 4sec ahead of the field and had he been pushed he may have been able to break the world record of 1:08.07.

The holder of the Games and world records, Ireland’s Alan Turner, watched Lee’s swim before he competed in the second heat of the event. Turner was unable to beat Lee’s time but qualified second to Lee for the final later today.

The first final tonight, the women’s 100m freestyle, is expected to provide a close finish as six of the eight finalists swam heat times within 1.5sec of each other.

The fastest qualifier, Caroline Miller of the United States, swam just under the European record for the deaf when she stopped the clocks at 1:02.18. A considerable improvement in performance would be required for the women to beat the world record of 59.43.

Miller will swim two finals and as top qualifier in the women’s 400m individual medley is expected to give second qualifier and world record holder Cindy-Lou Fitzpatrick, of the United States, a good race.

New Zealand swimmers Kathryn Olsson and Anya Cosgrove made their first appearance in the pool in the 100m freestyle. They finished fifth in their respective heats and failed to make the finals.

The starting time for the heats of the swimming which will be held on Tuesday, Wednesday, Friday, Saturday and Sunday mornings has been changed from 9am to 10am.

In the table tennis, Japan and Germany shone through as the strong men’s teams today.

Today’s semi-finals at Pioneer Stadium saw the two teams pairing off for a clash in the finals.

New Zealand in group B came bottom of table behind Israel. Seeding for individual players will be worked out this evening from today’s competition. The singles competition begins tomorrow.

Results:
Semi-finals — Group A: Japan, four wins, 1; India, one loss, three wins, 2; China, two wins, two losses, 3; Spain, one win, three losses, 4; Kuwait, four losses, 5. Group B: Germany, four wins, 1; Russia, one loss, three wins, 2; Hong Kong, two wins, two losses, 3; Israel, one win, three losses, 4; New Zealand, four losses, 5.