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
China has won the medal table at the last three Paralympic Games. After Italy led the medal table standings after Day 1 in Paris, Day 2 saw the Chinese team make their first push, highlighted by two world records and two more golds. Great Britain also picked up two more gold medals to keep even with China on four total golds. The two nations are now tied at the top of the medal table with eight finals sessions still to come.
Yang Hong earned his first Paralympic gold in style, rocketing to the 200 individual medley SM6 win with a new world record. Yang erased his world record by .32 seconds, swimming a 2:37.21. It’s his first time on the Paralympic podium since he won bronze at the 2016 Paralympics. Behind him, the former Paralympic record holder Nelson Crispin Corzo claimed silver in a new Americas record time of 2:38.04.
Then, China closed the session with a world record in the mixed 4×50 freestyle relay 20 points. Peng Qiuping, Yuan Weiyi, Jiang Yuyan, and Guo Jincheng combined for a final time of 2:14.98, bringing the world record to sub-2:15. China held the previous mark at 2:15.49. Again, the silver medalists set a new Americas record as Leanne Smith, Abbas Karimi, Zach Shattuck, and Ellie Marks swam 2:18.99.
Great Britain picked up two more golds on Day 2, both from its women’s squad. First, Tully Kearney won her second Paralympic gold in two days, picking up the win in the women’s 100 freestyle S5. Kearney, fresh off a win in the 200 freestyle S5 on Day 1, told BBC “The last 24 hours have made me realise that I need to stop questioning myself and my abilities.”
In the women’s 200 IM SM6, world record holder Maisie Summers-Newton defended her Paralympic crown. Summers-Newton reset the world record earlier this year (2:55.07) and was less than three-tenths from her Paralympic record of 2:56.68, claiming the gold in 2:56.90. She made her move on the breaststroke leg and was the only one in the field under the 3:00 mark as the United States’ Marks earned her second individual silver of the Games in 3:02.50.
Other Day 2 Paralympic Records
- Ukraine’s Oleksandr Komarov got the session started with a bang, breaking the Paralympic record in the men’s 100 freestyle S5. Komarov swam 1:07.77, smashing the legendary Daniel Dias‘ record of 1:08.24 by .47 seconds. Komarov passed China’s Guo in the closing meters of the race to claim his first Paralympic gold and Ukraine’s first in Paris.
- While the results of the men’s 100 breaststroke SB8 are under protest at the time of writing, the protest should not affect the podium. Competing up a class, Carlos Daniel Serrano Zarate won bronze, setting a new SB7 Paralympic record of 1:10.55. The time torches the previous Paralympic record in the classification, which belonged to Zarate in 1:12.01. With the swim, Zarate came within .23 of his world record.
Other Day 2 Continental Records
- Though Komarov passed him in the 100 freestyle S5 final, Guo still made his way onto the podium for the silver medal. Guo was also under the previous Paralympic record time of a 1:08.22, which marks a new Asian record. He had an exceptional day, setting an Asian record and then a world record in his 100 freestyle S5/mixed 4×50 freestyle relay 20 points double.
- The European record went down in both the men’s and women’s 400 freestyle S11 final. First, Czechia’s David Kratochvil, 16, struck gold in the men’s race, swimming a 4:26.34 European record. Kratochvil, the 2023 world champion in this race, put the pressure on early in the race. He took the lead and didn’t look back, winning the race by five seconds ahead of Tokyo champion Rogier Dorsman. In the women’s race, Lisette Bruinsma made her move in the final 100 meters, pulling ahead and winning in 5:00.42 for the second European record in two events. Behind Bruinsma, Zhang Xiaotong took silver in an Asian record of 5:03.45.
- Zhang Meng added to China’s strong day in the pool with a silver medal in the women’s 100 breaststroke SB9. Zhang swam 1:15.05, setting a new Asian record in the event to take silver behind world record holder Chantelle Zijderveld. China earned another silver in the men’s 100 breaststroke SB8, as Yang Guanglong set an Asian record of 1:09.83. This is Yang’s second straight podium in the event, as he won bronze in Tokyo.
Swimming Medal Table
| Nation | Gold | Silver | Bronze | Total |
| China | 4 | 4 | 1 | 9 |
| Great Britain | 4 | 2 | 0 | 6 |
| Neutral Paralympic Athletes | 3 | 3 | 4 | 10 |
| Italy | 3 | 2 | 6 | 11 |
| Netherlands | 2 | 1 | 1 | 4 |
| United States | 1 | 5 | 0 | 6 |
| Ukraine | 1 | 3 | 2 | 6 |
| France | 1 | 2 | 1 | 4 |
| Brazil | 1 | 1 | 3 | 5 |
| Australia | 1 | 1 | 2 | 4 |
| Japan | 1 | 1 | 1 | 3 |
| Spain | 1 | 0 | 2 | 3 |
| Czechia | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 |
| Denmark | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 |
| Hungary | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 |
| Israel | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 |
| Poland | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 |
| Singapore | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 |
| Colombia | 0 | 1 | 1 | 2 |
| Mexico | 0 | 1 | 1 | 2 |
| Hong Kong | 0 | 1 | 0 | 1 |
| Ireland | 0 | 1 | 0 | 1 |
| Canada | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 |
| Chile | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 |
| Germany | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 |
| Uzbekistan | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 |
