LIMA 2019 PARAPAN AM GAMES
- Villa Deportiva Nacional – Videna, Lima, Peru
- Para-Swimming: August 25th – August 29th
- Prelims 11 AM / Finals 8:30 PM (local time/US Central Time)
- Official Website
- Live results
With one night of competition still remaining, Mexico’s team set a national record for gold medals achieved at the Parapan American Games on Friday of the 2019 competition.
Mexico has won 22 golds throughout the week, eight of them coming from Diego Lopez and Gustavo Sanchez alone. Sanchez won the men’s SB3 50 breast Friday in 54.23, a new meet record. Teammate Jesus Hernandez nabbed the silver in 1:02.81. Lopez’s win came in the men’s S3 50 free, in which he went 47.11; similarly, Mexico’s Marcos Zarate Rodriguez took second in 52.89.
Mexico’s third gold Friday was won by Patricia Valle Benitez in the women’s SB3 50 breast. Benitez broke her own meet record with a 1:04.46.
Natalie Sims won the United States’ sole gold medal of the day, going 1:06.05 in the women’s S9 100 free. She swam a new meet record in prelims, nearly a second faster a 1:05.18.
As with the first five days of competition, team Brazil was dominant overall. The nation picked up 21 medals on the night, nine of them gold.
Cecilia Jeronimo de Araujo won the first gold in meet record fashion, winning the women’s S8 50 free in 30.68. Ruiter Goncalves Silva led a Brazilian sweep in the men’s S9 100 free with a meet record, going 57.38. Vanilton dos Nascimiento Filho was second in 58.69 and Joao Drumond Olivia third in 59.56; the top three were the only finishers under 1:00.
Wendell Belarmino Pereira also hit a meet record with his gold for Brazil, going 1:08.22 in the men’s S11 100 fly. His teammate Jose Perdigao Maia was just behind, taking silver at 1:09.43.
Brothers Douglas (59.55) and Thomaz Rocha Matera (1:01.20) also went 1-2 for Brazil, hitting meet records in their respective S13 and S12 class. Twin sisters Beatriz (2:38.29) and Debora Carneiro (2:39.83) also went 1-2 in the women’s SM14 200 IM.
Also of note: 12-year-old Sara Vargas, of Colombia, won her third gold medal of the week in the women’s S6 50 free. She set a new meet record at 35.73, erasing her own mark from prelims, and was the only swimmer under 37 seconds.