Success in the pool on day three of the Rio 2016 Paralympic swimming competition as four more British athletes secure berths.
Rio 2016 Paralympic Champion Ellie Robinson returned to the pool on day three of the swimming completion and was joined by teammate and fellow S6 athlete Ellie Simmonds as they went in the Women’s 50m Freestyle.
Both comfortably qualified for tonight’s single lap final of the of the Rio 2016 Aquatics Centre and will go head-to-head in search of more medals for ParalympicsGB.
Robinson said: “I’m happy with that swim, if I go back and get my preparation right then I can swim even faster but you can’t ever complain with a personal best.
“I’ve got loads of confidence after winning that gold, it feels great knowing I’ve got the potential to do well. I can only do my best and it’s about how everyone else swims, these guys are really unpredictable, it’s so hard to know.”
Robinson also set a new S6 British record of 34.99 as she secured her lane. Simmonds time of 36.44 sees her go into the final sixth fastest.
Simmonds added: "It's really good to have got my first race at this Paralympics done. It's a great pool and I've been really eager to race.
"The 50m isn't my main
event so it's good to get a race in ahead of my big targets. It was a steady
swim and I think the final will be great to watch."
Andrew Mullen took to the water for his second event of these games, this time in the Men’s S5 50m Butterly.
Mullen said: “That was a good heats swim and it was just about doing what I had to do to get a lane in the final. It’s a great atmosphere whenever you are racing against Daniel and I’ll use that to my advantage.”
He finished third in the second heat of the event and goes into the final later this evenings fourth fastest with a time of 38.19.
Alice Tai was the fifth and final British swimmer of the morning, she made her Paralympic debut in the Women’s S10 100m Backstroke.
She clocked a time of 1:08.46 and booked herself a lane in the final later.
Tai said: “A couple of days ago I felt I was an elephant swimming on my back but today I felt really good. I still need to work on my pacing, I got a bit excited and I had to hold back in the last 20 metres.”
Six-time Paralympian Sascha Kindred was back in action on the third day of swimming in the Men’s S6 50m Freestyle.
He posted a time of 33.07 and ranked 12th after the heats, just missing out on a place in the final.