Watt’s golden moment

NSWIS swimmer Prue Watt capped off a super Saturday of results with gold in the pool, while a further 10 NSWIS athletes won medals.

Watt’s gold came in the women’s SB13 100m breaststroke on the final day of the Paralympic swimming competition. Qualifying fastest for the final with an Oceania record of 1:20.36, Watt then lowered that mark again to clock 1:19.19 and secure her maiden Paralympic gold medal at her second Paralympic Games.

There was more good news from the pool on the penultimate day of competiton, with three NSWIS athletes bagging bronze. Michael Auprince and Andrew Pasterfield helped Australia on its way to a finals berth in the men’s 4x100m medley relay 34 points, before Matthew Levy anchored the team home to bronze in the final.

The track & field events were concluded on day 10 of competition, with NSWIS athletes Angela Ballard and Richard Nicholson both winning medals. Ballard won silver in the women’s T53 400m, her third medal from the London Games, while Nicholson joined three fellow Australians to take bronze in the men’s T53/54 4x400m relay. 

Also in action in the main stadium was rising star Georgia Beikoff, competing in the women’s F37/38 javelin. Beikoff recorded a new regional record of 29.84 metres to win bronze on Paralympic debut.

The final medal on day 10 of competition was silver, won by the Australian men’s wheelchair basketball team. Featuring NSWIS athletes Tristan Knowles, Grant Mizens, Brett Stibners and Nick Taylor, the team went down 58-64 in the final to Canada, matching the yesterday’s silver medal by the Australian women’s wheelchair basketball team.

With one day of competition left the NSWIS medal tally stands at 11 gold, nine silver and 15 bronze medals.

Elsewhere in London on day 10, Ryley Batt and the Australian wheelchair rugby team earned the opportunity to play for a gold medal after defeating Japan in the semi-final. The 59-45 victory was highlighted by 27 goals from Batt, with the team now scheduled to take on Canada for the gold.

In other swimming action from day 10, Reagan Wickens finished 15th in the men’s S6 100m freestyle, and Sean Russo finished ninth in the men’s SB13 100m breaststroke.