Ollie's golden hat-trick and Charlotte is Euro champ again

Kirkby swim star Ollie Hynd won his third gold of the IPC Swimming European Open Championships after victory in the S8 100m backstroke in Madeira.
Ollie Hynd and Charlotte HenshawOllie Hynd and Charlotte Henshaw
Ollie Hynd and Charlotte Henshaw

Hynd, 21, had already struck gold in the S8 400m freestyle and the SM8 200m individual medley last week.

Also, Mansfield’s Paralympic silver medallist Charlotte Henshaw reclaimed her 2009 title in the SB6 100m Breaststroke in a strong swim that saw her dominate.

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Hynd landed bronze in the backstroke at last year’s World Championships, but went into the final as the fastest qualifier.

He reached the turn first just ahead of Ukraine’s Iurii Bozhynskyi and pulled away in the second half of the race to win by 2.79 seconds in one minute 6.56 seconds.

Hynd said: “I’m really happy to have won three golds although I would have liked a little bit more tonight with the time.

“It was a little bit slower than what I went last week at trials so that’s a little disappointing, but it’s been a long couple of weeks of racing.

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“It means everything to be standing on top of the podium for the third time though.

“I mean there is no greater feeling than winning a medal and hearing the National anthem.”

Hynd had already teamed up with Matt Wylie (S9), Josef Craig (S8) and Lewis White (S9) for a silver in the 34-point 4x100m freestyle relay.

Henshaw swam an excellently timed race to carve out almost an nine second lead through the final 50m to touch in a time of 1:37.55.

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She said: “I am very happy to be European champion again. I wasn’t able to compete in the 2014 Europeans and I was really excited about coming here and trying to get that gold back that I got in 2009 so it feels great.

“A lot of my main rivals aren’t European but it’s always nice to come and test yourself.

“It doesn’t matter who is in the call room next to you, you always want to perform well in those big finals and this is really good prep for that.

“It’s good to get a marker down now and I’ll know what I’ve got to do for the next few months.

“I’m excited to hear the National anthem again. I think that’s the highlight of anyone’s sporting career.”

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