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Winnipeg Free Press - PRINT EDITION

Summer setting records in pool

By: Staff Writer

Posted: 09/5/2012 1:00 AM | Comments: 0

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Lefteris Pitarakis / the associated press Canada�s Summer Mortimer has two world records at the Paralympic Games. (CP)

LONDON -- Summer Mortimer has her second gold medal of the London Paralympics, and once again she won in record style.

The Hamilton native won the women's S10 100-metre backstroke in a world-record time of one minute 5.90 seconds.

Mortimer also won gold in the 50-metre freestyle event in world-record time last week.

"This feels absolutely amazing," said Mortimer, who won a silver medal in the 200 individual medley earlier at the Games. "I haven't been that fast since I was abled bodied. To be able to beat my times from when I was 14-15 years old is amazing. I wasn't expecting it but the race went perfectly."

Sophie Pasco of New Zealand, who led Mortimer by a half second at the turn, took the silver in 1:06.69.

"I need to see the clock when I swim backstroke, and I saw that Sophie was ahead of me at the split and I just went for it," Mortimer said.

Shireen Shapiro of South Africa was third in 1:09.02 while Aurelie Rivard of St-Jean-sur-Richelieu, Que., was fifth.

Mortimer ranked third in the preliminaries, but said she was simply following her game plan.

"I went easy in the prelims," she said. "I was trying to strategically place myself a couple of lanes over so I wouldn't be beside the main people and be able to focus on my own race."

The S10 classification is defined as minimal physical impairment. Mortimer broke most of the bones in her feet in a trampoline accident in 2008.

Elsewhere in the pool, Benoit Huot of Montreal won bronze in the men's S10 100-metre backstroke in 1:00.73.

"It wasn't easy but it worked out well for me," said Huot, now with 18 career Paralympic medals through four Games. "This isn't the race I feel the most comfortable in and at the end I wasn't sure I was in the medal contenders. I was really hurting in the last 25 metres."

Justin Zook of the U.S. won the gold medal in a world record 1:00.01. Former world record holder Andre Brasil of Brazil was second in 1:00.11

Earlier in the day, Marco Dispaltro of St-Jerome, Que., and Josh Vander Vies of Vancouver defeated British brothers Stephen and Peter McGuire 8-2 in the bronze-medal boccia match of the BC4 mixed pairs category.

-- The Canadian Press

Republished from the Winnipeg Free Press print edition September 5, 2012 D6

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