Mixed results for NSWIS athletes on day 3

A host of NSWIS athletes were in action on day 3 of the Rio Paralympics in a range of sports – and with varying results.

At the track Angela Ballard clocked 55.26 to win her heat of the women’s 400m T53, posting the quickest time of all the preliminaries.

Ballard, the world record holder for the event with the 54.69 she set in Indianapolis earlier this year, will go into the final on Monday morning AEST as the favourite to win her first Paralympic gold medal from her five Paralympic Games appearances where she has won six medals, including a bronze in the T53 100m earlier in Rio.

Another NSWIS athlete, Rosemary Little (pictured), put in a stellar performance to finish fifth in the women’s T34 100m with her time of 19.05.

At the rowing NSWIS trio Kathleen Murdoch, Jeremy McGrath and coxswain Jo Burnand wound up sixth in their repechage for the mixed Coxed Four – LTAMix4+ and have qualified for the B final.

The Paralympic debutants were hanging onto second place behind Canada heading into the final 250 metres, but South Africa reeled the exhausted Australians in, to take the last spot in the final.

At the velodrome NSWIS rider Simone Kennedy was ninth in the women’s individual C1-3 500m time trial, whilst Alexandra Lisney was 12^th in the individual C4-5 500m time trial.

In tennis Adam Kellerman and Ben Weekes lost a tough three setter to Poland’s Kamil Fabisiak and veteran six-time Paralympian Tadeusz Kruszelnicki in the opening round of the men’s doubles competition.

The Polish pair won the first set 7-5 before Kellerman and Weekes battled back to take the second 6-3, only to see the Polish duo take the third and deciding set 6-3 in a match that lasted two hours 43 minutes.

Both Kellerman and Weekes are still alive in the men’s singles draw and will play their second round matches on day 4.