Golden girl continues to shine

Jacqueline Freney’s perfect medal haul continued to flourish with another two gold medals on day five, winning the women’s S7 100m freestyle before joining fellow NSWIS athlete Maddison Elliott to triumph in the women’s 4x100m freestyle relay 34 points.

Freney’s night started on the right note with a new Paralympic record in the heats of the women’s S7 100m freestyle, before she went on to set another Paralympic record in the final and win her fourth gold medal of the Games. 

Then only a couple of hours later, Freney and fellow NSWIS athlete Elliott joined forces with compatriots Ellie Cole and Katherine Downie to win gold in the women’s 4x100m freestyle relay 34 points, setting a new world record of 4:20.39 to win by nearly four seconds. The gold was Freney’s fifth, and Elliott’s first, as the 13 year old became Australia’s youngest ever Paralympic gold medallist.

NSWIS athlete Matthew Levy was also in the medal mix on day five, taking silver in the men’s S7 100m freestyle. The silver complemented the gold and bronze Levy won earlier in the meet, as he set a new Oceania record en route to the medal dais.

The NSWIS medal tally now stands at six gold, five silver and 10 bronze medals.

There were a further four NSWIS athletes in the pool on day five. Sean Russo and Tim Antalfy finished fourth and fifth, respectively, in the men’s S13 100m backstroke; Reagan Wickens finished 14th in the men’s SM6 200m individual medley, and Katrina Porter finished 12th in the women’s S7 100m freestyle.

The athletics events continued in the main stadium, with NSWIS athletes Kurt Fearnley and Stephanie Schweitzer in action. Fearnley easily progressed through to the final of the men’s T54 1500m, while Schweitzer narrowly missed out on the medals in the women’s F20 long jump, finishing fourth.

In Weymouth, sailor Liesl Tesch continued her strong form in the SKUD 18 class, sitting atop the standings by one point, while Stephen Churm and Jonathan Harris finished the day in third position overall in the sonar class.

The NSWIS wheelchair tennis duo of Adam Kellerman and Ben Weekes suffered a loss in the men’s doubles tournament, as did the NSWIS trio of Jenny Blow, Tyan Taylor and Michelle Rzepecki in the women’s goalball tournament, while the Australian men’s wheelchair basketball team continued their unbeaten run following a victory over Italy.