2024 Paralympics: Ben Hance Breaks 100 Backstroke S14 World Record In Prelims

2024 SUMMER PARALYMPIC GAMES

• August 28 – September 8, 2024
  • Swimming: August 29 – September 7, 2024
• La Défense Arena – Paris, France
• LCM (50 meters)
• Meet Central
• Full Schedule
• How To Watch
• Finals Recaps: Day 1 | Day 2 | Day 3 | Day 4 | Day 5 | Day 6 | Day 7 | Day 8

Ben Hance, the defending world champion and reigning world champion, emphatically asserted himself as the man to beat in the men’s 100 backstroke S14 at the 2024 Paralympics by breaking his world record in prelims. Hance, who set the previous world standard in December 2021, lowered the mark by .36 seconds with a 56.52 to lead prelims. Great Britain’s Mark Tompsett and Louis Lawlor are the 2nd and 3rd seeds in the event, though with only Tompsett joining Hance sub-1:00 in the morning (59.19), it looks like the fight will be for silver and bronze while Hance races the clock again for gold.

Two Paralympic records fell during the morning as well. Brazil’s Lidia Vieira da Cruz took down another one in Paris, this time in the women’s 50 freestyle S4. Already a two-time medalist in Paris, Vieira da Cruz swam 38.61, qualifying for the final with a Paralympic and Americas record in the event. Canada’s Sebastian Massabie took down two records with one swim as well. In the men’s 50 freestyle S4, he popped a 36.95, bettering the Paralympic and Americas records as well.

Each will be in lane 4 for their final and while they’ve distanced themselves from their respective fields, anything can happen in the 50 freestyle. Viera da Cruz faces off with 150 IM SM4 gold medallist Tanja Scholz, 100 freestyle S3 Paralympic champion Leanne Smith, and the new Oceanian record holder Rachael Watson. Massabie faces 100 freestyle S4 medalists Ami Omer Dadaon and Takayuki Suzuki, as well as New Zealand’s Cameron Leslie.

The women’s 100 backstroke S10 should be a thrilling race. Bianka Pap leads after prelims with a 1:08.60, with Ali Truwit following closely with a 1:09.57. But the win still feels like it could come from anywhere in the pool. Canada’s 13x Paralympic medalist Aurelie Rivard is up in lane 1 and France’s Emeline Pierre has already shown she knows how to pull off an upset after she surprised for her first Paralympic medal by winning the 100 freestyle S10 in front of her home nation.

It looks like a similarly exciting race in the men’s 100 freestyle S8, the last event of the session. Australia’s Callum Simpson snagged lane 4 with the fastest time in prelims (58.49) but with six men under 1:00 in prelims, it’s anybody’s race. Noah Jaffe broke out last summer at his first Worlds, winning gold in this race in a new Americas record (58.15). Jaffe’s sitting second with a 58.94, joining Simpson under 59 seconds this morning. But the top six men are separated by 1.14 seconds with Tokyo silver and bronze medalists Andrei Nikolaev and Dimosthenis Michalentzakis also sub-1:00, along with Alberto Amodeo and Xu Haijao.

Finally, Japan’s Akito Minai and China’s Chen Yi took down the Asian records in the 100 backstroke S10. Minai swam 1:04.12, making it back for the men’s final in 7th seed. Chen finished 8th in the women’s race with her Asian record of 1:12.21.

More Day 9 Top Seeds

• Men’s 400 freestyle S6: Talisson Glock, Brazil — 5:02.41
• Women’s 400 freestyle S6: Jiang Yuyan, China — 5:14.01
• Men’s 50 Butterfly S5: Guo Jincheng, China — 31.33
• Women’s 50 Butterfly S5: Lu Dong, China — 40.50
• Men’s 100 Backstroke S10: Olivier van de Voort, Netherlands — 58.34
• Men’s 100 Butterfly S9: Simone Barlaam, Italy — 1:00.17
• Women’s 100 Butterfly S9: Christie Raleigh-Crossley, USA — 1:06.78
• Women’s 100 Backstroke S14: Poppy Maskill, Great Britain — 1:07.51
• Men’s 50 Freestyle S3: Umut Unlu, Turkey — 44.90
• Men’s 100 Butterfly S11: Keiichi Kimura, Japan — 1:01.48