News & Articles

Newkirk returns to podium in World Series Finale

Features –

BERLIN – Shelby Newkirk of Saskatoon completed a strong finish to the 2018 World Series Para swimming season on Sunday with a silver medal in the women’s 100-m backstroke.

Pin Xiu Yip of China won the gold with Newkirk ranked second clocking 1:21.50 nearing her world record time in the S7 sport class of 1:21.43 set last year in Toronto. Verena Schott of Germany was third.

‘’Being close to my world record at this point in the season is very satisfying,’’ said Newkirk, who won the gold medal and set a world record in the 50-m backstroke on Friday. ’’I tried to focus on the technique. And this being the last race of the World Series, I also wanted to have fun.’’

The rankings in the World Series multi class races were based on which swimmer was closest to the world record in their sport class.

Aurélie Rivard of Swimming Canada’s High Performance Centre-Quebec also enjoyed a strong finale. She broke the world record in the S10 200-m freestyle on Thursday and this weekend was ranked fifth in the 50-m freestyle with a season’s best 27.94, just 0.6 seconds off her world mark.

‘’I reached my goal by going under the 28 second mark,’’ said Rivard, a triple Paralympic Games champion in 2016. ‘’I’m physically exhausted. There’s not much left in the tank.’’

The Canadians were at their third consecutive weekend of World Series racing. The big focus for this summer is the Parapan Pacific Championships August 9-13 in Cairns, Australia.

Full results: IDM Swimming – Entry lists