The great London gold rush

It was raining medals on day four of the 2012 Paralympic Games, as four NSWIS athletes won gold, three won silver medals and a further three won bronze.

Jacqueline Freney continued to lead Australia’s charge in the pool as she picked up her third gold medal from as many events, this time the women’s SM7 200m individual medley. Freney was never troubled for the lead, winning by over 10 seconds in a new world record time of 2:54.42.

Freney’s gold was matched by fellow NSWIS athletes Michael Auprince, Matthew Levy and Andrew Pasterfield, who triumphed as part of the Australian men’s 4x100m freestyle 34 points relay. Auprince competed in the heats to ensure Australia’s passage to the final, with Levy and Pasterfield competing in the final. Earlier in the night Levy also picked up a bronze medal in the men’s SM7 200m individual medley.

The medal winning performances from the pool were then capped off by Taylor Corry, who won silver in the women’s S14 200m freestyle, her second silver of the Games, and youngster Maddison Elliott, who went one better than her bronze from two days ago, with silver in the women’s S8 50m freestyle.

Other results from the pool included Mitchell Kilduff finishing fifth in the men’s S14 200m freestyle; Kara Leo taking fourth in the women’s S14 200m freestyle; Tim Antalfy and Sean Russo finishing fourth and 13th, respectively in the men’s S13 100m freestyle; and Prue Watt finishing fifth in the women’s S13 100m freestyle.

The wheelchair track & road events brought with it some of Australia’s brightest medal hopes, including NSWIS athletes Kurt Fearnley, Christie Dawes and Angela Ballard. The trio lived up to expectation with Fearnley winning silver in the men’s T54 5000m and Dawes winning bronze in the women’s T54 5000m, her first individual Paralympic medal from five Paralympics, while Ballard also won bronze in the women’s T53 100m.

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

Elsewhere around London, rower Kathryn Ross finished fifth in the mixed double sculls; Hannah Dodd finished 12th in the mixed individual championship test: grade IV equestrian final; and the Australian women’s goalball team, featuring NSWIS athletes Jenny Blow, Tyan Taylor and Michelle Rzepecki suffered a narrow 1-3 loss to Canada.

The Australian men’s and women’s wheelchair basketball teams triumphed in their matches, against the USA and the Netherlands, respectively; Adam Kellerman progressed in the men’s singles wheelchair tennis while Ben Weekes was eliminated, before the NSWIS duo teamed up in the doubles to record a 6-2, 6-1 victory in the round of 32.