Tom Miazga (Milwaukee, Wis./Cedarburg, Wis.) led the way with two individuals and one relay team medal. Miazga got the night started off in the men’s 100m freestyle, the first event of the night. He captured the silver medal in a time of 1:11.05, just behind Brazil’s Gledson Soares with a 1:08.51.
Miazga returned to the pool for the men’s 100m backstroke, the 11th event of the night, and captured gold with a time of 1:18.98. This was a personal best for Miazga, as his fastest time prior to this meet was in the 1:20 range.
“This is such an awesome feeling and winning the gold just blew my mind, especially since it was a personal best for me,” Miazga said. “I was just feeling it tonight and I am so pleased with how it all worked out tonight. I am really looking forward to the rest of the week now.”
Miazga added his third medal of the night in the men’s 4X100 freestyle relay. The team, which consisted of Miazga, Alex Dionne (Panama City, Panama/Mequon, Wis.), Michael Prout (West Springfield, Mass.) and Cody Bureau (Latrobe, Pa./Colorado Springs, Colo.), finished in a time of 4:28.75 behind host country Brazil, who finished in 4:08.47.
The women’s team was led by Amanda Everlove (Valencia, Calif./Wichita, Kan.) and Sarah Hunt (Fort Collins, Colo.), who captured a silver and bronze, respectively, in the women’s 100m backstroke and they captured their second medal of the night in the women’s 4X100m freestyle relay, winning a silver.
“It was really exciting to win a medal tonight,” said Everlove, who finished with a 1:36.85 in the 100m, backstroke. “I was happy to have Sarah on the podium with me. We talked about it before the race and we made it happen.”
Hunt echoed the same sentiments of her teammate on being on the podium together. “It was great to be up there together,” said Hunt, who finished in a time of 1:41.50. “It sets the tone for the rest of the meet and hopefully I will have some more good races.”
Joining Everlove and Hunt on the podium for the women’s 4X100m freestyle relay were teammates Kate Gibbs (Seoul, South Korea/Midlothian, Va.) and Susan Beth Scott (Cape Girardeau, Mo.). The team finished with a time of 5:15.36 behind the team from Canada with a time of 4:46.92.
Other medalist on opening night included Miranda Uhl (Gainesville, Fla./Alachua, Fla.) and Casey Johnson (Fountain Valley, Calif./Cypress, Calif.) in the women’s 100m backstroke. Uhl, set a new American record with a time of 1:41.97, for a second place finish and Johnson won the bronze with a time of 1:46.72. Uhl broke her own record of 1:42.41, which she set last month in Vancouver, British Columbia.
Beth Kolbe (Tiffin, Ohio) won the bronze medal in the women’s 50m freestyle and it was a sweet victory after suffering a dislocated toe in the preliminary session. “This morning was just so unexpected and it just feels great to get back to where I should be,” said Kolbe, who finished with a time of 1:23.15. “The first race sets the tone for the whole meet and we have such a great finals tonight. We couldn’t have hoped for anything better.” The team of 14 is coached by Peggy Ewald (Tiffin, Ohio/Ada, Ohio), who was more than pleased with opening night at the pool.
“It was a fabulous opening night for us,” Coach Ewald said. “I think we figured there were eight personal best times out of 11, which is huge for the first day. Having a young team get the jitters out in the morning session and come back strong tonight is great. We will just have to keep the momentum going the rest of the week.”
About U.S. Paralympics: U.S. Paralympics, a division of the U.S. Olympic Committee, is dedicated to becoming the world leader in the Paralympic sports movement and to promoting excellence in the lives of persons with physical disabilities. Visit the U.S. Paralympics Web site at www.usparalympics.org.
