"It was really good, easy swim for me and I know I'll have to go a lot faster tonight," said Perry, who is defending his title from Athens (2004). "I know this is one of my best events. It's the one I really came here to win. I'm going to do everything I can and whoever wins is obviously the better competitor."
"I was out a little slower than I thought but this morning was a good swim," said Zook. "I plan to be a lot faster tonight."
Also ranked in the top three going into finals is Erin Popovich (Fort Collins, Colo./Silverbow, Mont.) in the women's 50m butterfly (S7.) Going after her fifth gold of the Beijing Paralympic Games, the U.S. women's co-captain will be challenged by Min Huang (CHN), who broke the world record in prelims with a time of 34.60, 4.11 seconds ahead of Popovich.
Popovich
"I mainly wanted to go out and get a good swim in, be confident and have speed for tonight. I feel really strong. It's going to be a very tough race tonight. I just have to bring everything I can to the race."
Stone
"I'm feeling pretty good about the morning swim. I'm going to get some good rest and hopefully it will be even better tonight."
Bureau
"This morning I pushed him [teammate Jarrett Perry] in the first 50 [meters]. It was great being right there with him for the race."
Scott
"I felt good. It's great for a morning swim. The competition is tough. I'm just going to go out and do my best."
Lovejoy
"I found a little better groove this morning. Tonight I will go all out. The competition is getting tougher. The world record I had is nowhere near the records now. That challenges me to work harder to get them again."
Team USA Results
- MEN'S 100M BACKSTROKE - S11
13th - SCHOLZ Philip 1:20.46 - MEN'S 100M BACKSTROKE - S12
4th - DUPREE Tucker 1:04.14 - WOMEN'S 50M BUTTERFLY - S6
7th - UHL Miranda 43.98
8th - JOHNSON Casey 43.99 - MEN'S 50M BUTTERFLY - S7
7th - LAMBACK Lantz 33.83 - WOMEN'S 50M BUTTERFLY - S7
2nd - POPOVICH Erin 38.71
10th - JORDAN Cortney 44.94
12th - GRUEN Deborah 49.19 - MEN'S 100M BACKSTROKE - S9
1st - PERRY Jarrett 1:03.47 WR
4th - BUREAU Cody 1:06.42
6th - PROUT JR Michael 1:08.72 - WOMEN'S 100M BACKSTROKE - S9
4th - STONE Elizabeth 1:13.52 - MEN'S 100M BACKSTROKE - S10
1st - ZOOK Justin 1:01.15 WR - WOMEN'S 100M BACKSTROKE - S10
4th - SCOTT Susan Beth 1:14.09 - MEN'S 50M FREESTYLE - S2
5th - LOVEJOY Curtis 1:14.22 - MEN'S 50M FREESTYLE - S3
8th - DEMARCO Michael 1:00.69 - WOMEN'S 50M FREESTYLE - S3
6th - KOLBE Beth 1:11.69
PR = Paralympics Games Record
