Jessica-Jane Applegate sets world record at Dublin 2018 - Day 6

jessica-jane applegate british swimming
Jessica-Jane Applegate. Photo: British Swimming

Jessica-Jane Applegate set a new world record to win S14 100m butterfly gold and lead a British clean sweep of the podium at the 2018 World Para Swimming Allianz European Championships on Saturday.

Applegate's winning time of 1:04.13 shaved 0.03 seconds off her previous best set in Sheffield last July.

She was joined on the podium by Bethany Firth, who claimed silver in 1:05.43, and Louise Fiddes, who took bronze in 1:05.47.

An ecstatic Applegate revealed that years of hard work culminated in Saturday night's performance at Dublin 2018, and she now has a European title to sit alongside her Olympic and World golds.

She said: "It's hard to describe the feeling, after all the hard work over the last few years, it's paid off. I wanted this so badly so I really worked for it.

"This is my favourite event and I did feel the pressure, but I think when you want something so badly you've just got to remember what you've got to do."

Applegate's success was one of six gold medals for Great Britain's women on a fantastic sixth night of action in Dublin.

Tully Kearney produced an emphatic display to win the S5 100m freestyle gold in 1:18.79.

"It's been a tough week here in Dublin but the gold makes it all worthwhile for me," said Kearney, who has been switched from S6 to S5. "As I've said previously, classification is such a big and important part of para-swimming so I understand that it needs to be done thoroughly, I'm just glad it's done for me now.

"After not being able to swim in Rio, I didn't think I would actually ever swim again, let alone at a major championships so being here in Dublin is a dream come true."

Ellie Robinson swam her second fastest time ever in the S6 50m butterfly to win gold in 35.37. That time was second only to her own world record of 35.22.

Toni Shaw won her first European title with a PB of 4:42.43 in the S9 400m freestyle, while Hannah Russell and Alice Tai both picked up their third gold of the championships. Russell won the S12 100m freestyle final in 1:01.15, while Tai triumphed in the S8 100m butterfly with a timeof 1:10.51.

Tai said: "It's great to have three finals in three days and come away with three golds, I'm really happy. I've been focussing on my recovery strategy for after the heats and changing a few things. That’s been a bit of a hurdle for me here though.

"I think this is the biggest crowd we've ever had at a Europeans, it gets bigger and bigger every year and really positive that more people are interested to watch."

Two of Britain's men also claimed medals on day six, with Lewis White taking S9 400m freestyle silver in a time of 4:18.30, and Stephen Clegg swimming 54.77 to take bronze in the S12 100m freestyle.

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