2018 CANADIAN SWIMMING TRIALS
- July 18-22, 2018
- Edmonton, Alberta
- Kinsmen Sports Centre
- Full Selection Criteria
- Psych Sheets
- Live Results
Saskatoon’s Shelby Newkirk broke her own S7 100 back world record twice on day 2 of the Canadian Swimming Trials in Edmonton, doing so in both prelims and finals.
In the heats, she clocked 1:21.42, taking out her record from last year by .01. She then lowered it in the final down to 1:20.13, winning the event with 1049 points.
“I’m so excited about it all,” said the 22-year-old who has generalized dystonia, a progressive neurological disorder similar to Parkinson’s.
“This morning I was really happy with my last 30 metres but the first bit I knew I could work on,” said Newkirk. “I knew if I could get that first 50 faster I would be able to beat it no problem. I’m going to keep training and try and go as fast as I can.”
Another world mark almost went down in the S10 100 freestyle, where 2016 Paralympic Champion Aurelie Rivard clocked 1:00.42 to finish .35 off her own world record of 1:00.07.
“Every since I broke (that record) three years ago I wanted to break it again,” said Rivard. “It’s on my mind every year. I would like to be break it. It’s been there long enough.”
Also of note from day 2 was Paralympic legend Benoit Huot announcing he would forgo Pan Pac qualification this year with the 34-year-old expecting a baby in the near future.
All quotes courtesy of Swimming Canada.
What avenues do you have to report a swimmer that is being put forward for classification who you don’t believe meets the criteria for s14? Just started swimming but will surely be put forward by their country ASAP.
Shelby Newkirk did a 3:16.51 in her 100 breast in March when she got classed at Denmark. In may she did a 1:51.13. WE LOVE THAT AMAZING TIME IMPROVEMENT WELL DONE SHELBY TRULY A HONEST SWIMMER :))
Why are progressive neurological disorders such as Dystonia, Parkinsons and MS classifiable? How the heck can you classify something that is inherently unstable and dynamic in form? Dystonia is very difficult to prove/disprove so the fairest thing to do is to knock it off the list.
she swam an 8 minute 400 free a couple months ago when she got classified. Amazing improvement she has made since then
And yet again the classification system fails us…
Awesome! Congratulations to you. Shows us all what triumph looks like.