World records for Stephens and Anderson

Anthony Stephens and James Anderson set world records in the 200m freestyle on an exciting second day of the British Swimming Paralympic Trials.

S5 swimmer Stephens, 17, beat Spanish Paralympic and World champion Sebastian Rodriguez at the climax of a thrilling race. The pair swapped the lead several times, but Stephens (Bridgwater) proved the stronger of the two on the final length.

His time of 2:47.82 seconds was just inside the old benchmark of 2:48.52 and ahead of Rodriguez who swam home in 2:49.29 seconds.

A delighted Stephens, who took nearly three seconds off his personal best, said: "I think that was the swim of my career so far. I could see he was tiring on the last length, so I just got my head down and went. We were neck and neck, and I just pulled away in the last 15 metres."

Stephens had earlier taken more than 20 seconds off the British SM5 record for the 200m individual medley, after competing in the longer event for the first time and finishing in 3:36.53 seconds.

Scottish swimmer Anderson (Broxburn) won the S2 class 200m freestyle in 5:02.50 seconds - two seconds inside his own world best of 5:04.53 that he set at the British Championships just a month ago.

But he was beaten to the finish by Israeli S1 swimmer Izhar Mamistvalov, who swam an impressive 5:01.63 seconds. The pair will meet again later this year at the Games themselves.

Welshman David Roberts scored a confidence-boosting win over French Paralympic and World Champion Eric Lindmann in what is likely to be a forerunner to another exciting encounter at Athens - the SM7 200m individual medley.

The Swim Swansea swimmer, a triple gold medallist at Sydney 2000, but racing for only the third time in the 200 IM, won the event, beating the French world record holder into third.

Lindmann beat Roberts by more than 10 seconds the last time the two met at the French Open Championships in January.

Roberts' time of 2:53.33 seconds was proof of the swimmerâs staggering improvement in this race. At the French Championships this January, Roberts finished more than ten seconds behind Lindmann and today he was a comfortable three seconds ahead his rival.

The delighted Roberts said: "I knew if I was within two or three metres of him at the start of the freestyle leg I would beat him, and the race plan worked.

"It's the first time he has lost in four years, so itâs a nice feeling, " added Roberts. "I wouldn't underestimate him - he's not world champion for nothing. But I know I'm capable of beating him now and he knows he is going to have to beat me to win at Athens."


Stretford swimmer Sascha Kindred won the SM6 category 200 IM in 2:53.16, while James Crisp (Nova Centurions) followed up his excellent performances on day one of the Sheffield trials by winning the SM9 class in 2:24.15.

The day started well for British swimmers, with Darren Leach achieving a qualification time for Athens in the SB12 class for the 100m breaststroke.

The Royal Tunbridge Wells swimmer, a bronze medallist in the 100m breaststroke at Sydney 2000, had yet to achieve a qualification time for Athens. But his time of 1:14.63 seconds was well within his 1:15.80 seconds target.

Out to Swim's Elaine Barrett was more than 10 seconds inside her qualification target for Athens as she won the SB11 class for the 100m breaststroke in 1:30.34 - just faster than the time that won her a bronze medal in the SB12 class at Sydney.

Nyree Lewis was only a second outside her own 200m IM European record as she won the womenâs SM6 category in 3:22.79.

Lewis capped off the day with an outstanding swim in the 50m butterfly in 46.52 seconds, setting a new British record. But her joy was cut short when British teammate Liz Johnson (Swim Swansea) cut over a second off her time to claim the record in 45.24 seconds.

Maggi McEleny (Port Glasgow Otters), won the SM4 150m individual medley in 3:18.23 - almost nine seconds inside the qualification time.

Mhairi Love (Stirling Swim) and Jeanette Chippington (Slough & Eaton) both set Athens qualification times in the S6 100m freestyle. Mhairi clocked 1:24.75 with Jeanette finishing in 1:24.94, both just inside the qualification standard of 1:25.13.

The event's foreign swimmers also made their mark at the Championships today with Martin Kovar (S3) of the Czech republic setting a new world standard in the 200m freestyle in 3:47.91 seconds and Russian newcomer Igor Plotnikov (S6) breaking the world mark in the 50m butterfly in 32.52 seconds.

For further information please contact the British Paralympic Association press office at Matchtight Ltd on 01225 383518.