2023 Para Worlds Day 2: USA’s Morgan Stickney Smashes World Record In Women’s S7 400 FR

2023 PARA SWIMMING WORLD CHAMPIONSHIPS

Five world records fell during the second day of competition at the 2023 Para Swimming World Championships in Manchester, including Morgan Stickney obliterating one mark to give the United States its first gold medal of the competition.

Stickney, 26, put up a time of 4:54.28 to win gold in the women’s 400 free S7, knocking nearly five seconds off the previous world record in the process.

Stickney’s time broke the previous mark of 4:59.02 set by Australian Jacqueline Freney in 2012, and she also broke her own American Record of 5:03.16 set earlier this year in Minneapolis.

Three of Tuesday’s world records came in the 100 freestyle, with two male and one female marks going down.

In the men’s 100 free S4, Israel’s Ami Omer Dadaon clocked 1:18.94 to erase the record of 1:19.26 he set earlier this year at the Para Swimming World Cup in Berlin.

In the S6 category of the men’s 100 free, Italian Antonio Fantin also broke his own world record, bringing his 1:03.65 mark from last year’s Worlds down to 1:02.98 to successfully defend his title.

On the women’s side, China’s Jiang Yuyan brought the 100 free S6 record sub-1:11 for the first time, as she put up a time of 1:10.86 to knock off the previous mark she shared with Ukrainian Yelyzaveta Mereshko (1:11.07), with the two swimmers having tied for bronze (in the S7 category) in the event at the 2021 Paralympics.

The lone non-freestyle world record broken on the day came in the men’s 100 fly S11, where Ukraine’s Danylo Chufarov logged a time of 1:00.66 to lower the 15-year-old mark of 1:01.12 set by Spain’s Enhamed Enhamed in 2008.

With six gold and eight total medals after the opening day, Italy led the medal table early on, and they extended that on Tuesday, now sitting atop the heap with nine gold and 15 total medals.

Leading things off for Italy on the day was Federico Bicelli, who won the men’s 400 free S7 in a time of 4:40.55 to top Argentine Inaki Basiloff (4:40.96).

Following Bicelli’s lead for the Italians was Fantin, who claimed the men’s 100 free S6, and they also had a victory from Stefano Raimondi, who topped the men’s 200 IM SM10 in 2:10.41. Raimond’s win marked a successful title defense, having won the event last year in Portugal, and he also won silver in Tokyo.

China had a strong showing on the day, moving up to second on the medal table after winning four golds and seven total medals on Tuesday to bring their cumulative tally up to 7/17.

In addition to Jiang’s win in the women’s 100 free S6, China also had Lu Dong set a new Championship Record in the women’s 50 back S5 (38.21), and Yuan Weiyi topped the men’s 50 back S5 in a time of 32.73, leading a 1-2-3 sweep.

The Chinese team then capped the night off by winning the mixed 4×50 free relay 20pts in 2:18.58, setting a new Championship Record.

Great Britain also had a strong day, including a podium sweep in the women’s 100 back S14 as they rank third on the medal table, tied with China with seven golds while trailing by one in terms of overall medal count.

MEDAL TABLE THROUGH DAY 2

Rank Nation Gold Silver Bronze Total
1 Italy 9 2 4 15
2 China 7 6 4 17
3 Great Britain 7 4 5 16
4 Australia 4 3 3 10
5 Canada 4 0 2 6
6 Brazil 3 4 5 12
7 Ukraine 3 3 3 9
8 Germany 3 2 1 6
9 Netherlands 2 3 0 5
10 Hungary 2 0 0 2
11 Spain 1 5 4 10
12 United States 1 3 4 8
13 Mexico 1 2 0 3
14 Israel 1 0 1 2
15 Greece 1 0 0 1
Republic of Korea 1 0 0 1
17 Japan 0 3 3 6
18 France 0 2 2 4
19 Argentina 0 1 3 4
20 Azerbaijan 0 1 1 2
New Zealand 0 1 1 2
22 Colombia 0 1 0 1
Croatia 0 1 0 1
Ireland 0 1 0 1
Kazakhstan 0 1 0 1
South Africa 0 1 0 1
27 Cyprus 0 0 1 1
Denmark 0 0 1 1
Switzerland 0 0 1 1
Turkiye 0 0 1 1

ALL DAY 2 MEDALISTS

Men’s 400 Freestyle S7

Women’s 400 Freestyle S7

  • Gold: Morgan Stickney (USA) – 4:54.28 WR
  • Silver: Ahalya Lettenberger (USA) – 5:22.27
  • Bronze: Sabrina Duchesne (CAN) – 5:31.17

Men’s 100 Freestyle S4

  • Gold: Ami Omer Dadaon (ISR) – 1:18.94 WR
  • Silver: Cameron Leslie (NL) – 1:22.56
  • Bronze: Takayuki Suzuki (JPN) – 1:22.91

Women’s 100 Freestyle S4

  • Gold: Tanja Scholz (GER) – 1:22.18
  • Silver: Lidia Vieira Da Cruz (BRA) – 1:29.43
  • Bronze: Gina Boettcher (GER) – 1:30.31

Men’s 50 Backstroke S5

  • Gold: Yuan Weiyi (CHN) – 32.73
  • Silver: Wang Lichao (CHN) – 32.92
  • Bronze: Guo Jincheng (CHN) – 33.71

Women’s 50 Backtroke S5

  • Gold: Lu Dong (CHN) – 38.21
  • Silver: He Shenggao (CHN) – 41.44
  • Bronze: Sumeyye Boyaci (TUR) – 43.32

Men’s 150 IM SM3

  • Gold: Ahmed Kelly (AUS) – 2:58.59
  • Silver: Marcos Rafael Zarate Rodriguez (MEX) – 3:19.28
  • Bronze: Emmanuele Marigliano (ITA) – 3:29.03

Women’s 150 IM SM3

  • Gold: Tanja Scholz (GER) – 2:53.18 CR
  • Silver: Marta Fernandez Infante (ESP) – 3:03.87
  • Bronze: Ellie Challis (GBR) – 3:13.13

Men’s 100 Freestyle S6

  • Gold: Antonio Fantin (ITA) – 1:02.98 WR
  • Silver: Talisson Henrique Glock (BRA) – 1:04.73
  • Bronze: Daniel Xavier Mendes (BRA) – 1:05.14

Women’s 100 Freestyle S6

  • Gold: Jiang Yuyan (CHN) – 1:10.86 WR
  • Silver: Anna Hontar (UKR) – 1:13.48
  • Bronze: Nora Meister (SUI) – 1:14.45

Men’s 200 IM SM10

  • Gold: Stefano Raimondi (ITA) – 2:10.41
  • Silver: Col Pearse (AUS) – 2:13.68
  • Bronze: Alexy Saffy (AUS) – 2:16.07

Women’s 200 IM SM10

  • Gold: Bianka Pap (HUN) – 2:28.58
  • Silver: Lisa Kruger (NED) – 2:30.15
  • Bronze: Faye Rogers (GBR) – 2:31.50

Men’s 100 Back S8

  • Gold: Inigo Llopis Sanz (ESP) – 1:05.32
  • Silver: Kota Kubota (JPN) – 1:06.40
  • Bronze: Sam Downie (GBR) – 1:08.36

Women’s 100 Back S8

  • Gold: Alice Tai (GBR) – 1:12.11
  • Silver: Xenia Francesca Palazzo (ITA) – 1:19.40
  • Bronze: Tupou Neiufi (NZL) – 1:20.35

Men’s 100 Fly S11

  • Gold: Keiichi Kimura (JPN)  – 1:03.66
  • Silver: Uchu Tomita (JPN) – 1:04.28
  • Bronze: Mykhailo Serbin (UKR) – 1:07.29

Men’s 100 Fly S12

  • Gold: Douglas Matera (BRA) – 58.28
  • Silver: Stephen Clegg (GBR) – 58.41
  • Bronze: Raman Salei (AZE) – 58.73

Women’s 100 Fly S12

  • Gold: Maria Carolina Gomes Santiago (BRA) – 1:05.68
  • Silver: Maria Delgado Nadal (ESP) – 1:06.87
  • Bronze: Alessia Berra (ITA) – 1:06.98

Men’s 100 Back S14

  • Gold: Benjamin Hance (AUS) – 57.26 CR
  • Silver: Gabriel Bandeira (BRA) – 59.05
  • Bronze: Alexander Hillhouse (DEN) – 59.86

Women’s 100 Back S14

  • Gold: Bethany Firth (GBR) – 1:05.80 CR
  • Silver: Poppy Maskill (GBR) – 1:05.87
  • Bronze: Georgia Sheffield (GBR) – 1:08.61

Men’s 100 Breast SB13

  • Gold: Taliso Engel (GER) – 1:03.26 CR
  • Silver: Nurdaulet Zhumagali (KAZ) – 1:05.16
  • Bronze: David Henry Abrahams (USA) – 1:05.55

Women’s 100 Breast SB13

  • Gold: Rebecca Redfern (GBR) – 1:15.01
  • Silver: Colleen Young (USA) – 1:15.89
  • Bronze: Olivia Chambers (USA) – 1:18.45

Men’s 200 IM SM9

  • Gold: Timothy Hodge (AUS) – 2:12.74 CR
  • Silver: Ugo Didier (FRA) – 2:17.15
  • Bronze: Federico Morlacchi (ITA) – 2:21.26

Women’s 200 IM SM9

  • Gold: Zsofia Konkoly (HUN) – 2:35.91
  • Silver: Nuria Marques Soto (ESP) – 2:36.67
  • Bronze: Sarai Gascon (ESP) – 2:37.13

Mixed 4×50 Free Relay 20pts

  • Gold: China – 2:18.58 CR
  • Silver: Brazil – 2:23.65
  • Bronze: Ukraine – 2:25.93

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Michael Freney
3 months ago

Re: Womens S7 400 FS.

Congratulations Morgan on a wonderful swim in breaking Jacqui’s 400 FS WR.
As you can understand, so much hard work went into that swim back in London 2012. It was towards the end of a massive program for her. She was just being held together with daily massages and recovery when we could grab it.
Both Jacqui and I had hoped for a slightly faster time, as you do! But it was a huge meet for her. As her coach, I was extremely proud and at times relieved that she held it all together.
So much work.
So much commitment.
As a coach, Im so proud that Jacqui’s S7 400m… Read more »

Jeff Noury
10 months ago

Stumbled on to your race at World Championships.
I am a former D1 Collegiate swimmer.
It didn’t even occur to me that you were swimming without your lower legs.
You are incredible.
Hope to meet you some day.

Arthur Oliver
10 months ago

I’ll have a go at explaining my thoughts on the downvotes. I don’t want to diminish Morgan’s incredible achievement in overcoming her challenges, but there seems to be a slight discrepancy with her classification, don’t you think?

She outperformed all the other S7s by more than 28 seconds and even surpassed the best S8 time by over 7 seconds. Given that she’s always been an S8 and swims like one, how can she be rightly classified as an S7?

Of course, it’s not her fault or problem (and we have our fair share of classification issues in our team as well, so I can’t blame the US). However, if someone is going to win by such a significant… Read more »

Ollie
Reply to  Arthur Oliver
10 months ago

Arthur, please put your real name. If you are going to classify swimmers from the stands with no clue of their medical condition then at least be real. She beat the record but that record was there for years meaning other swimmers went that fast. Just because the field wasn’t strong has nothing to do with being classified. I am sick of people who think they know better than the classifiers. She dominates the 400 despite her condition. She shouldn’t pay a penalty cause idiots in the stands can’t be happy for her!

Jeff Noury
Reply to  Arthur Oliver
10 months ago

“I don’t want to diminish Morgan’s accomplishment BUT..”
– you did. You diminished her accomplishment.
Feel better?
The word “BUT” diminished your logic. It’s a word often used in a passive/aggressive argument.
For instance, “Your kid would have won the race BUT, they didn’t.”

Arthur Oliver
Reply to  Jeff Noury
10 months ago

Your right. I should not have said those things.
Morgan, you are a World Champion.
No one can diminish your accomplishment.

Arthur Oliver
Reply to  Jeff Noury
10 months ago

It’s quite possible to both acknowledge that she is an incredible athlete and misclassified at the same time. It was not my intention to upset anyone. Based on your own post, you don’t seem too familiar with para swimming so I will inform you that misclassifications are quite common in the sport and that do not inherently take anything away from the athletes themselves, as it is an issue with the governing bodies.

However, the undisputable fact of the matter is that her times are competitive for S8s and not physically attainable for any other S7s. There have been so many cases of this happening in the past (simply look at the story of Ailbhe Kelly or even her teammate… Read more »

Ollie
Reply to  Arthur Oliver
10 months ago

You have no clue about classification. It’s not based on times but on disabilities. You have no idea unless you’re her doctor or the classifiers. Stop judging other athletes and pretending to take the high road. You’re just a bully!

Arthur Oliver
Reply to  Ollie
10 months ago

When someone needs to make fake profiles to defend a random person on on the internet, they’ve already lost. I must admit it was quite humorous to see you went through the trouble of making a profile with my name to apologize for speaking up against a blatant example of missclassification (here is a link to an article so you can educate yourself on a similar situation: https://www.si.com/.amp/olympics/2020/03/03/paralympiccheating)

In regards to my qualifications, I have been heavily involved with para swimming for quite some time, and yes that includes the classification process. I am familiar with both the bench test and the water test, and I personally have seen examples of blatant efforts to… Read more »

Ollie
Reply to  Arthur Oliver
10 months ago

I admit I don’t know Morgan personally. But I just found out who you are. I would imagine your daughter wouldn’t be to proud if she found out you’re just a bully! Those who live in glass houses shouldn’t throw stones!

LeBron
10 months ago

Morgan.
So glad to have had the pleasure of meeting you when you were recuperating in hospital.
It’s unimaginable that you came back again and again and again.
Proud to call you my friend.

Linda Prince
10 months ago

Morgan Stickney! Wow!
I saw you on YouTube. Thank you for being an inspiration to my son.
We pray for your health snd your continued success.
First Gold Medal and a world record.
No one can take that away from you.

Marcus Luca
10 months ago

Unbelievable Morgan. You are an absolute inspiration.

Andrew
10 months ago

Talk about the GOAT!! Morgan beat Jessica Long and McKenzie Coan. She’s unstoppable!!

Ollie McCartney
10 months ago

It’s been a rough year fighting through all the pain surgeries and hospital visits while training is an accomplishment onto itself.
A GOLD and WORLD RECORD shows true grit and determination.
Negative comments are from Negative people.
Keep fighting. Stay positive.

About James Sutherland

James Sutherland

James swam five years at Laurentian University in Sudbury, Ontario, specializing in the 200 free, back and IM. He finished up his collegiate swimming career in 2018, graduating with a bachelor's degree in economics. In 2019 he completed his graduate degree in sports journalism. Prior to going to Laurentian, James swam …

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