Our Team NI athletes, still buzzing from Barry McClements’ silver medal-winning performance in the S9 100m Backstroke last night, returned to the pool for session 7 of their 6-day schedule.
First into the water this morning, Paddy Johnston raced the 200m Butterfly heats. Coming into the event with an entry time of 2:00.33, Johnston took out the race in a strong but controlled fashion, leading the race into the first turn in a time of 26.25. Finishing the race, Paddy dipped under the 2-minute mark this morning in a time of 1:59.93, placing him 9thoverall and 1st reserve for tonight’s final.
Next event up for Team NI was the Women’s 50m Backstroke heats. Both Lottie Cullen and Danielle Hill we’re in the same heat again, alongside Madison Kryger (CAN) and Bex Sutton (WAL). With Mollie O’Callaghan (AUS) opting not to swim this morning’s heat, Danielle Hill stormed through the pool to win her heat in a time of 28.04 – just 0.5 outside of her lifetime best time. Lottie Cullen followed in the heat, touching the pad in a time of 29.44. Hill qualified 2nd into tonight’s semi-final behind Kylie Masse of Canada (27.79), while Cullen is 1st reserve for the semi-finals finishing 17th.
The last two swimmers this morning swam the Men’s 100m Freestyle heats – Matthew Hamilton in heat 8 and Jack McMillan in heat 9. Matthew Hamilton, racing in the same heat as Olympic Champion Matt Richards (WAL) finished in a time of 50.46, placing 6th in his heat. McMillan followed closely behind swimming alongside Kyle Chalmers (AUS) & Jacob Mills (ENG). His time of 49.51 secures him a semi-final swim in 10th position. Speaking with McMillan after, he commented on his race – “[That swim] felt good & smooth, see what tonight brings”. For Matthew Hamilton, he just misses out on a semi-final swim, placing 21st overall.
Tonight, we return to Tollcross for Daniel Wiffen’s 800m Freestyle where he races in the fastest heat, while Hill and McMillan will make a splash in their finals also.