After an amazing start to Day 1 of competition yesterday and watching four world records fall we are here in Pasadena, California getting ready for Day 2 of competition. As athletes are warming up we are starting to gear up for some of what will be some amazing races. Today we will see the men’s multi-class 200m Freestyle, women’s multi-class 400m Freestyle, women’s multi-class 50m Butterfly, men’s multi-class 100m Butterfly and the men’s multi-class 50m Freestyle races. Here are some of the top races to watch out for as the day moves forward.
MEN’S 200-METER FREESTYLE (MULTI CLASS)
After an exciting race yesterday between Roy Perkins of the USA and Daniel Dias of Brazil in the S5 50m Butterfly we will see them go head to head again today in the S5 200m Freestyle. Dias is the current world record holder, however if we have learned anything from yesterday and the past two years these two have quite the friendly rivalry built up and it should leave for an exciting race in today’s 200m Freestyle.
Although, we certainly cannot forget about the two S14s out of Australia, teammates Daniel Fox and Mitchell Kilduff. Fox is the current world record holder with a time of 1:57.16, but teammate Kilduff is in a great position to give it a good race and give the Australian’s a good chance at ending the day with gold and silver in the S14 200m Freestyle.
WOMEN’S 400-METER FREESTYLE (MULTI CLASS)
The women’s S7 class will have a packed race in this morning’s prelims between Brianna Nelson of Canada, Rebecca Dubber of New Zealand and Leanne Smith and Cortney Jordan of the United States. With current world record holder Jacqueline Freney of Australia absent for competition don’t be surprised if we see a good race between Jordan and Smith in the prelims heat this morning, as they will be racing in the same heat.
After coming off yesterday’s win in the S8 100m Butterfly Jessica Long of the United States will be going for her second gold today in the 400m Freestyle. Long is the current world record holder with a time of 4:42.28, and also the London 2012 gold medalist in the event. One of her signature events, it is easy to say anything is possible for Long in today’s 400m Freestyle. Although we cannot forget about Maddison Elliott of Australia who is just 15 and coming off her performance at Commonwealth Games, as well as 15-year-old teammate Lakeisha Patterson of Australia, both of whom we may see some serious time drops from throughout the day.
In the S10 class we will be keeping our eye on Aurelie Rivard of Canada who won the women’s S10 50m Freestyle last night and is seeded in this morning prelims just 4 seconds off of the world record. Seeded at a 4:36.46 there is definitely a chance that we will see her chase down the world record time of 4:32.79.
WOMEN’S 50-METER BUTTERFLY (MULTI CLASS)
In the women’s 50m Butterfly the class to keep an eye on is the S7 class with Brianna Nelson of Canada seeded first in this morning’s prelims ahead of Cortney Jordan from the United States by nearly a second and a half. Nikita Howarth of New Zealand, at just 15 years of age, may very well be our wild card in this morning’s 50m Butterfly for the S7 class as she is seeded just .50 behind Jordan.
MEN’S 100-METER BUTTERFLY (MULTI CLASS)
In this morning’s S11 100m Butterfly keep an eye out for a class race between Brad Snyder of the United States and Keiichi Kimura of Japan. Snyder is seeded at a 1:04.27 and Kimura is just behind him at a 1:05.00. The two will be racing each other in this morning’s prelims session and I have no doubt there will be a close race to the finish.
The S10 class is packed in today’s 100m Butterfly with Andre Brasil of Brazil and Ian Silverman of the United States racing for the first time in this competition. Brasil is a veteran in the swimming world and a dominant force in the S10 class, while Silverman has been making his mark since London in the men’s S10 class and is just beginning. Nathan Stein and Alec Elliot of Canada will also be in the race for the S10 100m Butterfly. They will all be racing each other in this morning’s prelims and will sure to be a close race; the ultimate race however will be in tonight’s finals.
MEN’S 50-METER FREESTYLE (MULTI CLASS)
In the men’s S5 50m Freestyle Daniel Dias and Roy Perkins will be returning to the pool for their second race of the day, and again it will be a close one. Perkins seeded at a 33.17 and Dias at a 32.17.
This morning will be sure to be another session of fast swimming, for live results follow me, @malloryweggeman on Twitter as I will be tweeting live updates and results throughout this morning’s session with the hashtag #ParaPanPacs.
I am so excited