Hamer breaks world record en-route to European glory

Tom Hamer swam to a stunning world record as he picked up a gold medal at the European Para-swimming Championships in Dublin.

Hamer broke a new ground with a time of 1:55.71 in the Men’s 200m Freestyle S14 with fellow Brit Jamie Catchpole following him home in second.

Maisie Summers-Newton also re-wrote the world record books with her first gold medal of the Championships on Tuesday night.

The 16-year-old stopped the clock at 2:59.60 in the Women’s 200m Individual Medley SM6 as Great Britain picked up an incredible three gold, three silver and three bronze medals.

Eight-time Paralympic medallist Ellie Simmonds finished fourth on her return to international competition in the same final with team-mate Grace Harvey coming home sixth.

Elsewhere, Great Britain locked out the podium in the Women’s 200m Freestyle S14 as four-time Paralympic gold medallist Bethany Firth led home a stunning one-two-three.

Firth finished in 2:05.41 with Jessica Applegate in second just 1.86 seconds behind with Louise Fiddes completing the all-British podium ahead of Sweden’s Pernilla Lindberg.

It was Fiddes second medal of the European Championships after her gold in the women’s 100m breaststroke S14 yesterday – a race in which Firth took bronze.

There was a silver medal for Lewis White in the Men’s 100m Freestyle S9 as Italy’s Simone Barlaam set a new European record of 54.42 seconds.

Finally, there were bronze medals for Andrew Mullen in the Men’s 50m Backstroke S5 and for 15-year-old Toni Shaw in the Women’s 100m Freestyle S9 on her senior debut.

Mullen had set a European record of 36.93 in the morning’s heats but it was Ukraine’s Yaroslav Semenenko who took gold from Italy’s Antonio Fantin in the final.