Sam Hynd (Nova Centurion) showed his true potential on the international circuit as he broke the world record in the men’s 400m Freestyle twice through the heats and finals of the German Open Championships.

The British champion, who smashed the record two weeks ago at the Paralympic World Cup, went into this competition with the aim to lower the record even further and he took to this morning’s heats looking confident.

He swam an excellent race and took his first record of the day after touching in a time of 4:31.08 and after claiming that record Hynd said: “I am extremely happy with that. I felt really comfortable throughout the race. I was in a heat with people that were much faster than me and that proved to be a good benchmark for me and it pushed me along to get a better time.

“I had a swimmer who entered with virtually the same time as me in the next lane to me and that was great for me because I could race against him.”

By setting the world record, Hynd made it into the ‘A’ final alongside the likes of Dave Roberts (Swansea Performance) and Sweden’s Anders Olsson.

The 16-year-old showed no signs of nerves as he took to the blocks for his final and knew he wanted to shave even more time off his world record.

The race proved to be a tough one with all athletes performing well. Hynd pushed hard and at the 300m he turned within the record he set earlier in the day. He touched home in a time of 4:28.81 to take 3 seconds off his world record and his personal best time. He took 1133 points in the S8 category.

“I felt good today,” Hynd said. “I saw someone that I knew could swim 3:28 and I had someone that is the top 3 in the world to my right and I knew I had to keep up with him to get that record again. I aimed for them and I kept a good pace throughout the race and everything was spot on for me. It has been a fantastic day.”

Sweden’s Anders Olsson finished in a new world record time of 4:49.30 and claimed 1157 points in the S6 category to take the gold medal.

Roberts, who competes in the S7 category, touched home in a time of 4:52.36 and won a total of 1014 points to take the bronze medal. That was the third fastest time that Roberts had swam the 400m Freestyle.

The British team saw further success in the pool from Heather Frederiksen (City of Salford) in the 400m Freestyle.

Along with three other British athletes Frederiksen made it into the ‘A’ final and wanted to get closer to the world record in her category. She took to the blocks looking strong and swam an impressive race.

She kept her pace high throughout and as she entered the final 50m showed no signs of fatigue as she powered home to shave eight seconds off her personal best time and break the European record in 4:54.77 – just one second off Jessica Long’s (USA) world record.

Frederiksen claimed the gold medal after winning 1117 points in the S8 category.

“I felt strong throughout that race and a lot more steady than the heat,” Frederiksen said. “I went 5:04 at the World Cup three weeks ago and that was unexpected. Then came here and swam 5:02 in this morning’s heats – it was a solid performance but I knew I had more to give.

“But to get 4:54 in the final was just awesome. I am edging closer to the world record, it would be great to claim it but I know it will be tough beating Jess Long at the Paralympics but by getting that time I have definitely put myself in the mix.”

Young Eleanor Simmonds (Swansea Performance) swam just outside of her personal best time to touch in 5:52.07 and took 975 points in the S6 category to give GB the gold and silver medals.

Bronze was won by Mirijam De Konig (Netherlands) after she finished in 5:57.68 and taking 930 points in the S6 category.

British swimmer Rhiannon Henry (Swansea Performance) finished in fourth place after touching in 4:47.78 and took 897 points in the S13 category. Paralympic Champion Nyree Lewis (Leominster) took fifth place with a time of 6:02.89 and a total of 890 points in the S6 category.

-ENDS-

British swimmers competing in Germany are as follows:

James Anderson (Broxburn)
Claire Cashmore (Kelly College)
Emma Cattle (Luton)
Jenny Coughlin (St Helens)
James Crisp (City of Sheffield)
Gareth Duke (Swansea Performance)
Graham Edmunds (Swansea Performance)
Dave Ellis (Derventio)
Jonathan Fox (Newquay Cormorants)
Sean Fraser (Warrender)
Heather Frederiksen (City of Salford)
Kate Grey (Thornbury SC)
Rhiannon Henry (Swansea Performance)
Charlotte Henshaw (Stirling)
Sam Hynd (Nova Centurion)
David Hill (Kelly College)
Liz Johnson (Swansea Performance)
Natalie Jones (Colchester Phoenix)
Sascha Kindred (Leominster Kingfisher)
Dervis Konuralp (Greenwich)
Rachel Latham (Bolton Metro)
Nyree Lewis (Leominster Kingfisher)
Andrew Lindsay (INCAS)
Mhairi Love (Stirling)
Simon Miller (Littlehampton)
Stephanie Millward (Melksham)
David Roberts (Swansea Performance)
Eleanor Simmonds (Swansea Performance)
Elizabeth Simpkin (Southport SC)
Lauren Steadman (Huntingdon SC)
Anthony Stephens (Swansea Performance)
Matt Walker (Marple)
Louise Watkin (Kelly College)
Danielle Watts (City of Oxford)
Robert Welbourn (Lincoln Vulcans)
Fran Williamson (Colchester Phoenix)
Matt Whorwood (Newquay Cormorants)

For more information contact British Swimming media assistant Gemma Field on 01509 632238, 07917 726431 or email gemma.field@swimming.org

British Swimming is the National Governing Body for Swimming, Diving, Synchronised Swimming, Water Polo and Open Water in Great Britain.  It is responsible internationally for the high performance representation of the sport. The members of British Swimming are the three Home Countries national governing bodies of England (Amateur Swimming Association), Scotland (Scottish Amateur Swimming Association) and Wales. (Welsh Amateur Swimming Association)  British Swimming seeks to enable its athletes to achieve gold medal success at the Olympics, Paralympics, World Championships and Commonwealth Games.
www.britishswimming.org

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