Michael Prout (West Springfield, Mass.) and Cody Bureau (Latrobe, Pa./Colorado Springs, Colo.), got things started for the U.S. team winning gold and silver, respectively, in the men’s 100m backstroke. Prout finished in a time of 1:06.96, while Bureau turned in a time of 1:08.07.
They didn’t stop there though as both raced in the second to last race of the evening, which was the 100m backstroke. They repeated the first and second place sweep, but this time it was Bureau winning the gold and Prout taking the silver. “It was nice to have both American flags coming first and second both times,” Bureau said. “Prout and I want to be first and second every time, but it doesn’t matter who gets what.” Bureau won the gold in a time of 1:04.18, while Prout finished second with a 1:06.17.
“It was really nice that Cody won silver when I won gold, and I won silver when he won gold,” Prout said. “The swim team is usually strong at any games and normally has a pretty high medal count, so it is good we are keeping that going with a young team at these games.”
Miranda Uhl (Gainesville, Fla./Alachua, Fla.) and Casey Johnson (Fountain Valley, Calif./Cypress, Calif.) added a gold and bronze medal to the U.S. total in the women’s 100m freestyle. Uhl captured gold with a time of 1:24.50 and Johnson finished third in a time of 1:28.50. “The race was so close tonight and when I saw my time up there it felt really good,” Uhl said. “I am so proud to win the gold tonight and it is a step closer to Beijing.”
Kate Gibbs (Seoul, South Korea/Midlothian, Va.) and Susan Beth Scott (Cape Girardeau, Mo.) rounded out the U.S. medal haul on the second day of competition collecting three total medals. Gibbs won a bronze in the women’s 100m backstroke for the S9 division and followed that with a silver medal finish in the last race of the day, the 100m butterfly. Gibbs finished the backstroke in a time of 1:23.20 and the butterfly in 1:17.08. Scott won the silver medal in the 100m backstroke for the S10 division in a time of 1:18.05.
The team of 14 is coached by Peggy Ewald (Tiffin, Ohio/Ada, Ohio), who has been very pleased with her teams accomplishments thus far. “It was another solid night for the U.S. team picking up another nine medals,” Coach Ewald said. “They are swimming well in the morning, getting in good position and coming back at night and improving on that. I couldn’t have asked for a better night and hope to keep this momentum going through 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.
