Kearney gunning for gold as British swimmers book spots in finals

Tully Kearney is looking for quick medal upgrade after a storming into tonight’s women’s 100m freestyle S5 final.

Kearney won silver in the 200m event yesterday after swimming a world-record split of 1:16.36 through 100m – admitting frustration that she lost out on gold by just 0.12 seconds, having led by 2.19s at the 150m mark.

However, the 24-year-old seven-time world champion clocked 1.19.60 in Thursday morning’s heats to outclass the field, team-mate Suzanna Hext her closest rival just over two seconds back.

Three British swimmers made the women’s 200m individual medley SM6 final but Ukraine’s Yelyzaveta Mereshko looks the one to beat.

Mereshko erased Maisie Summers-Newton’s world record and Ellie Simmonds’s Paralympic record to establish her gold medal credentials at the Tokyo Aquatics Centre.

Summers-Newton, Grace Harvey and defending champion Simmonds progressed in the third, fifth and sixth-fastest times respectively.

Lyndon Longhorne clocked 1.34.27 secs to make the men’s 100m freestyle S4 final as the eighth-fastest qualifier but Will Perry didn’t progress in the men’s 200m medley SM6, his time of 3.01.50 sec just over ten seconds off the qualifying standard.

There was better luck for Perry as part of ParalympicsGB’s mixed 4x50m freestyle relay – 20 points team however, as along with Ellie Challis (S3), Andrew Mullen (S5) and Ellie Robinson (S6), he helped the Brits to the seventh-fastest qualifying time of 2:42.42 for a spot in this evening’s showpiece.