Hynd takes Commonwealth swimming gold
Team England's Ollie Hynd was elated tonight (28 July 2014) after completing the full set of international medals. His fantastic victory in the SM8 200m individual medley made him one of the world's greatest in his class.
Ollie, 19, from Mansfield, is already the European, World and Paralympic champion. In Glasgow, he added Commonwealth gold to his tally, clocking two minutes 22.76 seconds. That was 0.10 seconds outside his own European record.
Finishing in silver and bronze position were Australia's Jesse Aungles and his team-mate Blake Cochrane respectively.
Afterwards, Hynd said:
"I was so close to my best time and am really happy with that. I dropped a lot of time from this morning's swim and that was one thing I really wanted to do this evening. I have a good endurance base and that transfers well into the medley."
Hynd looks to retain his European title at next week's IPC Swimming European Championships in Eindhoven.
A total of 22 medals across five Para-sports will be up for grabs at Glasgow 2014, being held from 23 July until 3 August. The Para-sports on show are athletics, powerlifting, swimming, lawn bowls and cycling. It is also the first time in the Games' history that Para-cycling has been included for disabled athletes. All the medals gained in Para-Sports are incorporated into the full medals table for the Games and Para-Sport events are fully integrated into the schedules.
Ahead of the Games, Barry Horne, the English Federation of Disability Sport's Chief Executive said:
“This is a great international stage for the English disabled athletes competing in the Games. For the millions of other disabled people, who may just want to be active in their local area, venue or event, the Games may be one of the motivational catalysts. We hope providers around the country will continue, long after the Games are over, to support disabled people to be active for life.”
