GLASGOW, Scotland – It was a golden day for Team USA at the 2015 IPC Swimming World Championships in Glasgow, Scotland as Cortney Jordan, Brad Snyder and Jessica Long won world titles to open competition.
Jordan (Henderson, Nevada) took home the first U.S. medal of Day One in the women’s 100-meter freestyle S7 with a time of 1:11.93. Jordan, a Paralympian and U.S. world team co-captain, outlasted Russia’s Ani Palian and British favorite Susannah Rodgers by just over a second to earn her fifth career world title.
"I’m so happy," Jordan said. "I have the best team and I just knew that with each swim, it can really boost morale. I knew that if I went out there for the first swim of the night and got the first gold for Team USA that it would lift everyone’s spirts and get them ready for their races. That’s what I’m trying to do as captain. It had to do a lot with them."
Momentum carried for Team USA when Snyder (Baltimore, Maryland), also a co-captain, secured his first world title with a blazing time of 56.78 in the men’s 100 free S11 to finish just eleven-hundredths of a second shy of the world record set in 1986 by U.S. swimmer John Morgan. Snyder, a Navy veteran who won gold in this event at the London 2012 Paralympic Games, started the morning off on record pace in prelims, breaking the championships record only to improve his time in this afternoon’s finals.
"Leadership is really important to me and I think the most critical aspect of leadership is leading by example," Snyder said. "I’m really pleased in Cortney’s performance and my own of leading from the front and I hope to carry that through the week.
"I’ve had my eye on that [world] record since 2012 and I know I’m capable of it," Snyder said. "I’m looking forward to hopefully having another shot at it in Rio next year. I’ve proved to myself that I’m capable and now I just have to do it."
Three-time Paralympian Long (Baltimore, Maryland) added to her collection of 23 world medals, including 19 gold, by coming from behind in a dramatic finish to touch the wall .26 seconds ahead of Ukraine’s Kateryna Istomina in the women’s 100 butterfly S8. Long also beat her own meet record set at the 2010 world championships in Montreal to finish in 1:09.79.
Just missing the podium with fourth place finishes were Team USA’s Robert Griswold (Freehold, New Jersey) in the men’s 100 butterfly S8, Hannah Aspden (Raleigh, North Carolina) in the women’s 100 backstroke S9 as well as Paralympians Alyssa Gialamas (Naperville, Illinois) in the women’s 50 backstroke S5 and Rebecca Meyers (Timonium, Maryland) in the women’s 50 free S13.
Competition, which brings together 580 athletes from nearly 70 countries from July 13-19, continues tomorrow at the Tollcross International Swimming Centre. A live stream is available with play-back on USParalympics.org beginning at 5 a.m. EDT for preliminary races. For full results and schedule, visit the IPC website.
For more information, please contact Brianna Tammaro, U.S. Paralympics, at 719-237-2179 or Brianna.Tammaro@usoc.org.
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