Belarusian Ihar Boki (23.21) began his European Championships campaign in style with a new world record in the men's 50m freestyle S13 on his first outing at the Pieter van den Hoogenband Swimming Stadium in Eindhoven, the Netherlands, on Thursday (7 August).
The beaming London 2012 silver medallist, who failed to make it through the heats in the event last year at the World Championships, was delighted with his first European gold in the event.
"I am very happy for my win on this distance," he said. "It is not my distance but I worked hard with my coach.
"I am very happy. It's a good time."
Ukraine's Iaroslav Denysenko (24.00) was just 0.79 seconds behind and lead Russian Aleksandr Golintovskii (24.55) onto the podium.
Boki next heads out in the men's 100m freestyle S13 on Saturday (9 August), looking to add the European title to his Paralympic and Worlds gold.
Norway's world and Paralympic champion Sarah-Louise Rung (3:25.37) picked up her third gold in the women's 200m individual medley SM5, overtaking Spanish rival Teresa Perales (3:42.23) at the halfway point to seal victory.
Rung, however, was disappointed with her comparatively slow time.
"It was a terrible race. Just before the race, I had a pain in my hip so the start of the 50m fly was just depressing. That made the whole race a disaster from start to end.
"It is ten seconds behind my PB. Really I should be chasing the world record."
Ukrainian Natalia Shestopal (3:53.05) completed the podium with her first medal of the Championships.
Great Britain's Andrew Mullen (3:06.78) sealed his second gold in less than 24 hours in the men's 200m individual medley SM5, as the silver and bronze medal finishers raced all the way to the wall.
"I'm really happy to have two golds," the 17-year-old said. "To go from no international medals in three years to two golds in less than 24 hours, I'm really happy."
Greek Antonios Tsapatakis (3:19.28) just edged Russia's Roman Zhdanov (3:19.42) to take silver.
Heats
There was home delight for the Dutch with Olivier van der Voort (4:22.39) heading out fastest in the men's 400m freestyle S10. Great Britain's Robert Welbourn (4:22.86) was just 0.47 seconds behind alongside Sweden's Ludvig Nyren (4:29.54).
World and Paralympic champion Elodie Lorandi (4:46.42) comfortably qualified in the women's equivalent, putting her firmly in the hunt for her first gold in her specialist event.
Hungary's 14-year-old Bianka Pap and Poland's Oliwia Jablonska (4:49.52) complete the top three.
The women's 50m freestyle S11 final will see a close contest between Sweden's Maija Reichard (32.72), Italy's world record holder Cecilia Camellini (33.31) and Germany's Daniela Schulte (33.89). The three women have all won gold medals so far this week.
Spain's Oscar Salguero (1:14.68) qualified fastest in the men's 100m breaststroke SB8, with Italy's double European champion from this week, Fedrico Morlacchi (1:17.19), doing enough to go through in third.
The men's 100m backstroke S2 saw a new S1 world record set by seventh-placed Hennadii Boiko (2:32.59) to continue a great week for the Ukrainian. Russia's S2 double-gold medallist Dmitrii Kokarev (2:13.70) touched quickest.
Alexander Chekurov (27.54) joins teammate Kokarev in this evening's finals, heading through with the fastest time in the men's 50m freestyle S11. Two Ukrainian swimmers, Victor Smyrnov (27.54) and Oleksandr Mashchenko (28.11) finished within a second of Chekurov to make for an interesting final.
Andrey Gladkov (1:12.27) rounds off a series of fastest qualifiers for the Russian team in the men's 100m backstroke S7.
Azerbaijan's Dzmitry Salei (24.16), fresh from his victory in the men's 200m individual medley, heads out against Ukranian Maksym Veraksa (23.91) in the men's 50m freestyle S12.
Poland's Joanna Mendak (28.78) leads Russian Anna Krivshina (29.34) and Spain's Deborah Font (29.43) into the women's 50m freestyle S13 finals.
For further information, please contact:
Lucy Dominy
IPC Public Relations and Campaigns Manager
e-mail: lucy.dominy@paralympic.org
call +44-7718394453.
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