In the middle of the last weekend’s rain and wind, 17-year-old Serafina King broke two American Paralympic swimming records at an outdoor California meet.
King, competing in the S10 class, technically broke both short course yard records in the same event – one in prelims and the other on a front-half split in finals.
On Sunday morning, King went 1:05.00 in the 100 yard backstroke to break a nearly-13-year-old record for the S10 class. King’s time beat the 1:05.69 put up by Mikhaila Rutherford back in March of 2003, making the record King broke not too much older than she is.
In finals that night, King went out for a 50 split, coming up with her second American record of the day. She was 32.00 at the 50 split, crushing her own American S10 record of 33.32 set in 2012.
That kind of speed several months out from the U.S. Paralympics Swimming Trials is a great sign for King, an international veteran. She has previously represented Team USA at the 2014 Para Pan Pacific Championships as well as the 2015 Parapan American Games. She won bronze in the S10 100 back at the 2014 Pan Pacs and bronze in the S10 400 free at the 2015 Pan Ams.
“I was surprised that I broke both records not tapered or rested, and especially with the wind at 30mph and the rain,” said King this week. “I’m very happy and proud of the times that I swam, but I’m going to continue to try and drop even more off of the records in my upcoming swims. I’m excited to be in such a good place headed into the trials for Rio, and I feel like it’s a great start to the new year.”
Before I would be critical of someone with a disability, however severe, I think I would have had to walked in their shoes. No one but that person knows how difficult it has been to attain the progress they have made.
Totally agree!!
Seems very unfair that Australias’ Scott has the same impairment but competes as S9 and competes in breastroke and individual medley which, incidentally, she placed 4th in both at IPC World Championships and swam in the 34pt medley relay (breastroke) yet Serafina is limited to freestyle, backstroke & fly (with two arms unlike Scott). Best thing is that the IPC realise people are watching what’s going on now, ordinary people like me not coaches etc. I hope Serafinas’ coach asks some hard questions of the IPC. This anomoly is straight forward, it’s nerve damage In both cases.
Watching the races that Australia’s Scott and USA’s King swim, it looks like they have different levels of severity in their injuries. But, King should probably be eligible to compete in breast and medley, with one arm fly. Either way, she’s seems to have found a niche as a back stroker. The games in Rio look like they’re going to be ruled by a bunch of teens.
Indeed it does Kickfastswim.
And that in itself tells a story and I would like to hear the IPC trying to justify that one to the world audience.
I believe big questions will be asked come Rio.
Well I think a lot of these youngsters have already been swimming for a decade as club swimmers. I think Rivard from Canada started at 8, King at 7, the list goes on. They’ve been racing off the blocks for most of their lives! They or their parents found swimming, and para-swimming found them. I hope it inspires more youth with physical challenges to participate in sport.
So have a lot of able bod swimmers but there are not too many young teenage superstars amongst them.
It takes years of elite level athlete training to reach those lofty heights, not club swimming as a youngster.
Young teenagers are well and truly over-represented in “elite” para-swimming and one can’t help but wonder why that is the case.
And how do we know that Kickfastswim?
Where are the videos to prove Kings’ apptitude for breastroke or fly? Scott doesn’t need backstroke – if she did do you think she’d swim it the way she does given that she’s moved on from single arm freestyle?
King does because she cannot realistically compete against swimmers missing fingers, a foot, calf issues or stiff ankles.
This urgently needs to be brought to the IPC for review – because someone or their NSO is cheating or someone is being hard done by by both the IPC and their NSO.
Let’s get real here, it’s meant to be elite sport. (cough)
Scott is a S9 and King is a S10 in back and free. They are not competitors in the same class, and yes I do think that having a brachial plexus injury is probably an equivalent to a swimmer missing 4 fingers like a swimmer from Latin America, or Rivard from Canada. Where as Scott is a SM9, King should compete as an SM10 in medley.
I read the bios on the IPC site for a bunch of the S10 swimmer, and it states at what point these swimmers started swimming competitively. If you’re a club swimmer from southern California,Florida, the Mid-Atlantic states, you’re already swimming 6-8 times a week by the time you’re 11 or 12. These are… Read more »
At UNFAIR SPORTING ADVANTAGE watch the S10 400M free final from the Parapan American Games. Watch Aurelie Rivard from Canada and the 2nd place swimmer, and King in 3rd. Rivard missing fingers, insane “hand” entry into the water and full arm range of motion, same with latin american swimmer missing 4 fingers who placed second, complete range of motion, high elbow out of the water, watch King in 3rd place. Her right arm has no high elbow recovery, and seems weirdly straightish the entire race, her shoulder blade looks to be popping out of her back, and there doesn’t seem to be any pull from that side.
Why so much attention on an athlete with emerging times?
You cant just read a description of someone’s disability on the internet and judge their class. Most S10 swimmers at first glance they all seem fine to me. Serafina’s mom perhaps exaggerated her swimming disability just a little bit haha. I think you guys can end the discussion of comparing two random swimmers you have never seen swim side by side much less putting them on a bench test next to each other.
The comment about elite swimmers I do agree with its hard for them once they turn 18. for nomal swimmers they have college but the disabled swimmer the fork in the road for many is 18 and not 22-23. I don’t see the US as dominated by… Read more »
Very proud of you Serafina,keep up the good work.
So proud of our cousin. Kep up the good work.
The S10 class is a tough class to compete in, especially in the United States. If you look at meet results since the trials for London in 2012, Susan Beth Scott left some big shoes to fill in the backstroke and 400m free events. I’ve seen King swim at most of the meets since the trials in 2012. At the trials, when she was 13 I think, she was second in the event, behind Scott, and almost hit the MQS for games. She is probably one of the most naturally gifted backstrokers to come along in the S10 class for women for the US in a while. If you watch her swim the event, she makes it look easy, and… Read more »
Serafinas’ classification is yet another example of a glaringly obvious IPC volunteer swimming classifier inconsistency let go by IPC Swimming management staff.
Question. How is it then that Australian swimmer Madeleine Scott, same degree of and impairment type as Serafina is not only elegible to swim breastroke and therefor individual medley but has also been given clearance to swim one armed butterfly when she using two arms for breastroke, freestyle and backstroke and Serafina is not?
It is such a shame that no one is responsible for double checking exactly what the classifiers let in and don’t let in. Or, is that the responsibility of US Paralympic swimming to question such inconsistencies on behalf of the athlete who… Read more »
Sounds very like Madeleine Scott from Australia although by the sound of that Serafina is more severely affected.
Funny then how Ms Scott is S9 and SB9 and swims fly with one arm. Her best events are fly, breast and IM.
Serafinas mom, I made no reference to your daughters impairment, I have no right to do that. I am talking about the class allocated to Serafina by the IPC swimming classifiers. I raised the point of classification in an open forum to highlight therefor have the IPC swimming classifiers gotten it right across the classes. The S10 class is a valid talking point not only because of the NE swimmers in both breastroke, freestyle and therefor IM but because, as you pointed out the myriad of ‘allowed’ minimal impairments in that class and the lack of available data explaining how that impairment affects performance in the sport of swimming. I can assure you it’s no walk in the park being… Read more »