FINIS-sponsored athletes Arianna Vanderpool-Wallace and Brad Snyder took the world by storm last week at the Pan American Games and the IPC World Championships, respectively.
Vanderpool-Wallace took home two medals in haul and set a new Pan American Games record. She started off the week with a bronze in the 100-meter freestyle, clocking a time of 54.15. Later, Vanderpool-Wallace showed the world what she was really made of by sending a strong message during her best event, the 50-meter free. In prelims, she set a new Pan American Games record of 24.31, a new personal best time.
She was the top seed going into the finals by almost half a second, a remarkable lead for the 50-meter freestyle. That time bumps her up to fourth in the world this year. In the finals, she went a little bit slower, 24.38, but that was still enough for her to get the gold and the third-fastest swim of her career.
Vanderpool-Wallace’s summer isn’t over yet, though. She is competing in the FINA World Championships August 2–9 in Kazan, Russia. With this being the pinnacle meet of the summer, it wouldn’t be surprising to see her dip into the 23-second range and fight for the gold.
Brad Snyder also had quite a week in Glasgow, Scotland, at the IPC World Championships. Snyder, a three-time Paralympic medalist, was considered a heavy favorite going into the week in his three events. This IPC World Championships was Snyder’s first major international competition since the London Paralympics almost three years ago.
Snyder started the week off by winning the gold in the 100-meter freestyle and setting a new World Championships record time of 56.78. He then won the 400-meter freestyle in a championship record time of 4:37.13. To cap things off, he took gold in the 50-meter freestyle in 25.78, which is also a championship record.
These accomplishments mean that Snyder won gold in all three of his individual events and set IPC World Championship record times in all three events.
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