2016 RIO PARALYMPIC GAMES
- Wednesday, September 7 – Sunday, September 18, 2016
- Swimming: Thursday, September 8 – Saturday, September 17, 2016
- Olympic Aquatics Stadium, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil
- Prelims 9:30 AM / Finals 5:30 PM (local time)
- IPC World Records
- Live stream links: NBC / IPC
- Schedule/Results
The podium in the men’s 200 IM final in the SM10 class was a clean sweep for swimmers from the Paralympic powerhouse Ukraine, which was led by a 2:06.87 World Record from Denys Dubrov.
That broke his own World Record of 2:08.71 done earlier this year. His countrymate Maksym Krypak was also under the old record in 2:08.10.
Dubrov is a controversial figure in Para swimming; in 2014, he went from an able-bodied swimmer with truly world-class times, to an IPC European Champion swimmer, in just a few months (and without any public explanation).
At the 2014 Ukrainian Championships, Dubrov swam 2:03.3 in the 200 IM and 53.66 in the 100 fly. In August, a mere 4 months later, he won the IPC European title in 2:15.05 and was 3rd in the 100 fly in 58.53.
His career bests in those events are 52.21 (100 fly) and 2:01.21 (200 IM).
Canadian veteran Benoit Huot, the defending Paralympic champion in the event, placed 4th and joked that he was “number one in the world – other than Ukraine.”
Huot tried to stay positive after the race, and said as much that he didn’t want to be negative, but he did allude to the controversy.
“So he’s closer to Michael Phelps than I am to him, just to give you an idea. So he is, for us, pretty much unbeatable. I just think they are good athletes and in the bottom of my heart, I just hope it’s a fair system and everyone fits their (classification) place, and I trust the movement that it is.”
There should be an investigation into Denys Dunrov
It is obviously ripe throughout all the classes and both genders. Impossible to take these Games seriously. I do feel for all those being affected by this out of control cheating though. That is all I see I’m sad to say.
The male S10s with their fixed club feet etc are a bunch of pretenders in my opinion, can’t take them seriously at all. Doesn’t matter much to me which one ends up on the podium.
We are catching our breath lol. Its hard to rip on the S10s for cheating in most cases whatever minor disability they have is not even noticeable. Myself I mostly ignore the entire class. Look at the Canadian Rivard I think she is missing some fingers and she competes against swimmers missing their entire foot.
And swimmers with neurological disorders. Work that one out!!
Rivard had a clear congenital disability that would impact her pull through the water. Her whole right hand is much smaller and missing numerous fingers. You can’t seriously think that she shouldn’t be swimming!
Rivard has a congenital disability, she is missing part of her hand and that fits with the minimal disability requirements. It will affect her pull.
However, is she as limited in her functionality as Sophie Pascoe – lower limb amputation and missing most of her calf muscle in her remaining leg? No one knows.
Plus, can mild’ CP swimmers compete fairly against ‘mild’ amputees? No one can answer that either.
And, 3 classes for sight impaired? I dont understand this one. Blackened goggles, tappers and they all compete together in a relatively fair playing field. ‘Relatively’ as there wil always be anomolies. Fixed. Plus reduced medal events surely equates to more competitive sport. It’s the Paralympics, not the… Read more »
I’m fine with her swimming but within her class she probably has an advantage over most. She is good example of how hard it is to squeeze these swimmers into so few classes and make it a fair race for everyone. .
The rule with hand amps to fit in the S10 class is that they have to be missing over 50% of their affected hand compared to their sound hand. Rivard’s missing well over that.
How interesting that some commenters who are usually vocals against certain para swimmers are now dead silence.
For them, only Australian or British para swimmers can cheat.
Most of the cheats in the lower classes have been classed as S10 at some point, or should be a 10. On the women’s side it always seems like a more level field, and Rivard is basically missing her hand, a Mexican swimmer has a pronged hand, pad or missing a foot but has complete use of her upper body and legs, etc. Konkoly and the duo from Australia should be racing these ladies, not Long or Jordan, or the rest of the S9 class.
Is the need for glory so profound that one would pursue it by any means, including artifice? Apparently.
How good it would be if you were a lawyer – pretty sure CEOs ignoring fraud is a fairly serious offence. It isn’t just the athletes at fault here.
How good it would be if you were a lawyer – pretty sure CEOs ignoring fraud is a fairly serious offence
Dubrov could have gone 2:02-2:03 or faster tonight, he just completely shut it down in the last 15 meters of the race. Pretty disappointing to see what’s happening