Ellie Simmonds Swims World-Leading S6 400 Free in Glasgow

Torrey Hart
by Torrey Hart 1

April 26th, 2019 News

British para swimming veteran Ellie Simmonds swam the 2019’s fastest S6 400 free in Glasgow at the World Para Swimming World Series Friday.

Simmonds, 24, went 5:19.27, just about half a second off her own British record of 5:18.69. With the swim, she punched her ticket to the 2019 Para Swimming World Championships in London this summer.

“I wanted it so badly in my heart – I want to go to the World Champs and I wanted to do it for everyone who supports me,” Simmonds said in a press release. “To have the World Champs in my home pool, where I train each and every day and to hopefully get picked for the team now and to represent Great Britain at another World Championships, I’m so excited.”

The five-time Paralympic champion took a break from swimming in 2017 and considered retirement after Rio.

“It feels amazing. To go 5:19, nearly a personal best after having a year off from the sport, when my aim for this meet was just to qualify for London – I want to cry! I’m so emotional and so happy,” she said.

Canadian S10 Paralympic champ Aurelie Rivard took second place in 4:33.96 and Poland’s Oliwia Jablonska (S10) was third in 4:36.40.

Note: swims completed by swimmers in multi-class events are scored based on how close the swimmer’s time is to their classification’s world record. 

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Cheree Dufner
5 years ago

I have been following the IPC swim meet in Glasgow – how do swimmers progress to Finals in their various categories?

About Torrey Hart

Torrey Hart

Torrey is from Oakland, CA, and majored in media studies and American studies at Claremont McKenna College, where she swam distance freestyle for the Claremont-Mudd-Scripps team. Outside of SwimSwam, she has bylines at Sports Illustrated, Yahoo Sports, SB Nation, and The Student Life newspaper.

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