Orlando, FL 5/11/16- The Invictus Games are an international Paralympic-style event that was created by the British Prince Harry. This is an opportunity for injured, wounded or sick veterans and/or armed service personnels to take part in multi-sport events.
The swimming portion started off with the women and men’s 50 meter freestyle. The events that were included in Wednesday’s meet were the 50 meter freestyle, backstroke and breaststroke, the 100 meter freestyle and 200 meter freestyle relay.
Each event includes four classes that were given to us by BBC One:
ISA: Competitors have three or more limbs severely impaired or spinal injuries that significantly impact on trunk function.
ISB: Swimmers have had a double amputation, severe trauma to a limb, no leg function and some trunk impairment.
ISC: Athletes have had a single amputation, trauma to one arm with severe functional restrictions, are blind or visually impaired.
ISD: An open category for those with no or limited physical restrictions, brain injuries or psychological injuries like post traumatic stress disorder or anxiety.
Swimmers from all over the world are in Orlando to represent their country. The following countries were represented, United States, United Kingdom, Canada, France, Australia, New Zealand, Netherlands, Italy, and Estonia.
On the women’s side for the ISB class, Elizabeth Marks of United States won all of the individual events. Marks went a time of 34.45 in the 50 meter freestyle, a 40.16 in the 50 meter backstroke, a 42.67 in the 50 meter breaststroke, and a 1:16.15 in the 100 meter freestyle.
Mireille Poulin of Canada (ISC class) won the 50 meter freestyle (34.00), the 50 meter breaststroke (50.24) and the 100 meter freestyle (1:15.67). Poulin came in second in the 50 meter backstroke (44.55) to United Kingdom’s Fiona Bullen, who went a 40.59.
For the men’s races, United Kingdom represented well with multiple wins. Paul Vice of UK won the 50 breaststroke (1:08.42) and the 50 backstroke (1:08.21) in the ISA class. He also placed second in the 50 meter freestyle behind his teammate Mark Bowra. Bowra went a time of 56.38, which was a second in front of the 57.32 Vice went.
Fellow UK members Michael Goody (ISC) and David Wiseman (ISD) both took home the gold in the 50 and 100 meter freestyle for their class. Goody went a 26.67 in the 50 freestyle and a 59.27 in the 100. Wiseman won the 50 freestyle in a time of 26.27 and a 59.31 in the 100 freestyle. Goody also took home the gold in the 50 meter backstroke in a time of 31.98.
Both men were apart of the winning 200 freestyle relay, that included Luke Reeson and Fergus Hurst that won in a time of 1:48.48, which was 12 seconds ahead of USA’s second place finish.
The winners of each event can be found on the BBC One result page.
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