Italy Tops Medals Table for 2nd Straight World Para Swimming Championships

2022 WORLD PARA SWIMMING CHAMPIONSHIPS

Para Classifications System:

  • There are 14 classifications for Para swimmers, typically denoted as “S” followed by a number.
  • “SB” designates an athletes classification for breaststroke events
  • “SM” is for individual medley events
  • Athletes with physical impairments are classified in S1-S10, SB1-SB9, and SM1-SM10 with numbers 1-10 ranging from more severe activity limitations to less severe limitations.
  • Athletes with visual impairments are classified in S/SB11-13.
  • Athletes with intellectual impairments are classified in S/SB14.

The Italians topped the medals table for the second World Para Swimming Championships in a row, capping their week in Madeira with a world record in the final mixed 4×100-meter freestyle relay 34 pts event on Saturday. 

Simone Barlaam, Stefano Raimondi, Giulia Terzi, and Xenia Palazzo combined to finish in 4:02.53. In the men’s 50 free S9 less than half an hour prior, Barlaam matched his world record of 24.00. 

Four world records in total fell on Day 7, including in the women’s 100 free S3, where Leanne Smith clocked a 1:27.62 to set the new world record. The 34-year-old ended the week as the most successful swimmer in Madeira, clinching seven gold medals in as many events. Smith’s showing gave a huge boost to the U.S. in the medals table, where they placed 2nd with 24 gold medals. Not since Jessica Long in 2010 has the U.S. had a better medal haul at Worlds. 

Smith has been on a tear since she took four months away from the pool following her Paralympics debut, which saw her take home a silver medal from Tokyo last summer.

“To really reevaluate where I was in the sport,” said Smith, who was diagnosed with a rare neurological muscle disease in 2012 and began swimming as rehabilitation the following year. “I wasn’t the happiest with how I swam in Tokyo, so it was important for me to really take the time to reevaluate mentally, emotionally how I felt about the sport.”

Tully Kearney achieved a different kind of perfection for 4th-place Great Britain, breaking her third world record in as many events with a 1:13.34 in the women’s 100 free S5. Brazil held on to 3rd place thanks to a pair of Day 7 victories by Gabriel Bandeira in the men’s 100 fly S14 and Mariana Ribeiro in the women’s 50 free S9. In the latter race, a silver medal from Portugal’s Susana Veiga gave the host country its most decorated performance ever at Worlds (one silver and two bronze).

The first race of the final session started with a bang as 13-year-old Spaniard Anastasiya Dmytriv beat Irish Paralympic champ Ellen Keane in the women’s 100 breast SB8. 

“It’s my first World Championships, I’m really happy and my mom is very proud. I swam well in the morning but I couldn’t imagine that I would win,” said Dmytriv, who debuted internationally at the Berlin World Series this year.

Final Medals Table

*The medal table in this post is ranked by gold medal totals, then silver medal totals, then bronze medal totals

Rank Country Gold Silver Bronze Total
1 Italy 27 24 13 64
2 United States 24 9 7 40
3 Brazil 19 10 24 53
4 Great Britain 17 13 8 38
5 Ukraine 13 10 13 36
6 Netherlands 8 7 6 21
7 Australia 7 15 9 31
8 Spain 7 11 11 29
9 Columbia 6 9 3 18
10 Mexico 6 6 13 25
11 Canada 6 5 7 18
12 Germany 4 6 4 14
13 Hungary 4 3 2 9
14 Japan 3 5 12 20
15 Greece 3 3 1 7
16 Azerbaijan 3 2 0 5
17 Israel 3 1 1 5
18 France 2 8 2 12
19 Singapore 2 1 0 3
20 Cyprus 2 0 0 8
21 New Zealand 1 4 0 5
22 Argentina 1 3 4 8
23 Turkey 1 2 2 5
24 Chile 1 2 1 4
25 Croatia 1 0 0 9
26 Czech Republic 1 0 0 5
27 Poland 0 2 3 5
28 South Africa 0 2 2 4
29 Ireland 0 1 4 5
30 Kazakhstan 0 1 2 3
31 Portugal 0 1 2 3
32 Switzerland 0 1 2 3
33 Uzbekistan 0 1 2 3
34 Austria 0 1 1 2
35 Lithuania 0 1 1 2
36 Iceland 0 1 0 1
37 Republic of Korea 0 1 0 1
38 Norway 0 1 0 1
39 Denmark 0 0 2 2
40 Slovakia 0 0 2 2
41 Belgium 0 0 1 1
42 Egypt 0 0 1 1
43 Malaysia 0 0 1 1

Full Results

Women’s 200 free S2

  1. Angela Procida (ITA), 5:14.62
  2. Fabiola Ramirez Martinez (MEX), 5:22.41 (Americas Record)

Women’s 200 freestyle S3

  1. Leanne Smith (USA), 3:16.95 (Championship Record)
  2. Nikita Ens (CAN), 4:51.75
  3. Larissa Rodrigues (BRA), 4:58.08

Men’s 100 breaststroke SB8

  1. Vicente Enrique Almonacid Heyl (CHI), 1:11.57
  2. Oscar Salguero Galisteo (ESP), 1:11.74
  3. Andreas Onea (AUT), 1:12.85

Women’s 100 backstroke S10

  1. Bianka Pap (HUN), 1:08.84
  2. Anaelle Roulet (FRA), 1:09.83
  3. Aurelie Rivard (CAN), 1:10.24

Men’s 100 backstroke S10 

  1. Stefano Raimondi (ITA), 59.68
  2. Riccardo Menciotti (ITA), 1:00.68
  3. Alexander Elliot (CAN), 1:02.44

Women’s 400 freestyle S11

  1. Anastasia Pagonis (USA), 5:02.28
  2. Liesette Bruinsma (NED), 5:17.18
  3. Matilde Estefania Alcazar Figueroa (MEX), 5:30.76

Men’s 400 freestyle S11

  1. Rogier Dorsman (NED), 4:31.63
  2. Mykhailo Serbin (UKR), 4:37.38
  3. Uchu Tomita (JPN), 4:40.65

Women’s 100 freestyle S7

  1. McKenzie Coan (USA), 1:09.65
  2. Giulia Terzi (ITA), 1:11.48
  3. Denise Grahl (GER), 1:13.69

Men’s 100 freestyle S7

  1. Andrii Trusov (UKR), 1:00.38
  2. Federico Bicelli (ITA), 1:01.13
  3. Carlos Daniel Serrano Zarate (COL), 1:01.25

Women’s 200 freestyle S4 combined S3

  1. Tanja Scholz (GER), 2:53.02 (Championship Record)
  2. Lidia Vieira Da Cruz (BRA), 3:10.33
  3. Patricia Pereira dos Santos (BRA), 3:18.10

Men’s 200 freestyle S4

  1. Ami Omer Dadaon (ISR), 2:50.91 (Championship Record)
  2. Cameron Leslie (NZL), 2:59.71
  3. Angel De Jesus Camacho Ramirez (MEX), 3:02.44

Women’s 200 IM SM13

  1. Colleen Young (USA), 2:27.89
  2. Carlotta Gilli (ITA), 2:28.56
  3. Gia Pegolini (USA), 2:31.75

Men’s 200 IM SM13

  1. Alex Portal (FRA), 2:10.14
  2. Kyrylo Garashchenko (UKR), 2:12.38
  3. Thomas van Wanrooij (NED), 2:13.04

Women’s 100 freestyle S5

  1. Tully Kearney (GBR), 1:13.34 (World Record)
  2. Monica Boggioni (ITA), 1:23.31
  3. Joana Maria Da Silva Neves Euzebio (BRA), 1:24.01

Men’s 100 freestyle S5

  1. Francesco Bocciardo (ITA), 1:10.30
  2. Antoni Ponce Bertran (ESP), 1:13.23
  3. Koral Berkin Kutlu (TUR), 1:15.12

Women’s 100 freestyle S3

  1. Leanne Smith (USA), 1:27.62 (World Record)
  2. Ellie Challis (GBR), 1:48.42
  3. Patricia Valle Benitez (MEX), 2:06.05

Men’s 100 freestyle S3

  1. Jesus Hernandez Hernandez (MEX), 1:39.55
  2. Vincenzo Boni (ITA), 1:41.83
  3. Josia Tim Alexander Topf (GER), 1:46.00

Women’s 50 butterfly S6

  1. Ellie Marks (USA), 36.98
  2. Sara Vargas Blanco (COL), 37.10
  3. Nicole Turner (IRL), 37.18

Men’s 50 butterfly S6

  1. Laurent Chardard (FRA), 31.14 (European Record)
  2. Nelson Crispin Corzo (COL), 31.37
  3. David Sanchez Sierra (ESP), 32.38

Women’s 50 freestyle S9

  1. Mariana Ribeiro (BRA), 28.18
  2. Susana Veiga (POR), 28.90
  3. Sarai Gascon (ESP), 29.19

Men’s 50 freestyle S9

  1. Simone Barlaam (ITA), 24.00 (World Record)
  2. Fredrik Solberg (NOR), 25.66
  3. Jamal Hill (USA), 25.66

Women’s 100 butterfly S14

  1. Paige Leonhardt (AUS), 1:05.27 (Oceania Record)
  2. Jessica Applegate (GBR), 1:06.61
  3. Poppy Maskill (GBR), 1:07.27

Men’s 100 butterfly S14

  1. Gabriel Bandeira (BRA), 55.02
  2. Reece Dunn (GBR), 56.85
  3. Alexander Hillhouse (DEN), 57.16

Mixed 4×100 freestyle 34 points (S1-10)

  1. Italy, 4:02.53 (World Record)
  2. United States, 4:09.81
  3. Spain, 4:10.66

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About Riley Overend

Riley is an associate editor interested in the stories taking place outside of the pool just as much as the drama between the lane lines. A 2019 graduate of Boston College, he arrived at SwimSwam in April of 2022 after three years as a sports reporter and sports editor at newspapers …

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