The British Gas Disability Swimming Team won a further five gold, six silver and three bronze medals to add to their already impressive medal tally on the fifth day of competition at the IPC Swimming European Championships.
The gold medallists consisted of Eleanor Simmonds, Heather Frederiksen and Louise Watkin.
Eleanor Simmonds claimed her fourth European title in the women’s S6 100m Freestyle after beating team-mate Natalie Jones to the wall.
Paralympic Champion Simmonds put in an excellent performance and looked strong throughout the race.
She touched the wall in a time of 1:17.57 and after the race she said: “I am really happy to have won that because every time I get in to race I want to win. It is so great to have won that. I have moved on from Beijing because I have come here and won four gold medals instead of the two.”
Jones touched the wall in 1:21.14 and the bronze went to Tanja Groepper (Germany) who finished in 1:24.86.
Heather Frederiksen fought for the gold medal in the women’s S9 100m Butterfly and she was pushed throughout the race by Anna Vengerovskaya (Russia).
Frederiksen found herself stroke for stroke through the first 50m and after an excellent turn she pulled away from Vengerovskaya.
The new European Champion finished in 1:16.33 to win her third gold medal of the competition.
“She really made me work hard for that win but I remember her from Beijing,” Frederiksen said. “I knew she would be tough to beat and I knew that when we got to the wall I would really have to work for it but I just kept going.”
Vengerovskaya won the silver in a time of 1:17.53 and the bronze went to Emma Hollis in 1:24.37.
Louise Watkin won her third gold medal of the IPC Swimming European Championships in the women’s S9 50m Freestyle.
Watkin stormed through the pool to take the victory ahead of Spain’s Sarai Gascon Moreno. Watkin touched in a time of 29.66 to win the gold.
“That was an awesome race for me,” Watkin said. “When I got into the race I got on with it and got the race on the touch. I have been working really hard on my IM and my Breaststroke and the whole week has gone really well for me. I actually didn’t notice I had won for a while because they said Great Britain won it but I thought it was one of my team-mates.”
Gascon Moreno won the silver in 29.69 and Claire Cashmore won the bronze in 30.14. Lauren Steadman finished in fifth place in a time of 31.22.
Natalie Massey won the silver medal in the women’s SM14 200m Individual Medley after touching in a time of 2:38.66.
The women’s S10 50m Freestyle saw Emma Cattle finish in sixth place in a time of 31.34.
Lauren Hobbins finished in fifth place in the women’s S13 400m Freestyle in a time of 5:04.41.
“There were a lot of great performances tonight but for me the highlight of the night was Richard Howard in the 100m Butterfly. We were fortunate in the Games from Atlanta to Athens because we had Giles Long in that category and we had a gap there for Beijing and now I think we have a new man to fill that gap.
“I am impressed with how he has dealt with his first international competition and he has taken it all in his stride and I am not surprised by that because he has a good grounding and training regime.”
