By Tom Degun

April 17 - Four-time Paralympic medallist Anthony Stephens (pictured) and Simon Miller both smashed British records on the second day of competition at the British International Disability Championships at Ponds Forge in Sheffield.



Stephens broke the S5 British record on the way to winning the bronze medal in the 100 metres freestyle after touching in a time of 1min 15.50sec to secure a total of 833 points.

Gold went to Brazilian Daniel Dias with a time of 1:33.34 and a total of 937 while the silver was won by Israel’s Itzhak Mamistvalov, who competes in the S1 category, in 1:07.05 and 893 points.
 
Stephens said: "I was happy with that and my hope now is to qualify in the 200m freestyle.

"I am in good shape at the moment but we will see what happens tomorrow.”
 
Miller claimed his own British record in the S9 50m freestyle after touching in a time of 26.94sec to finish in fourth and collect 832 points.
 
Colchester Phoenix’s Fran Williamson won the gold medal in the S3 50m backstroke after making her return from injury. 

Williamson, who only recently returned to full training, achieved the qualifying time for the World Championships with a strong swim as she finished in a time of 1:05.86 and to pick up the victory along with 680 points.

Silver went to Portugal’s Simone Fragoso (S5) with a total of 343 and a time of 58.36 while S3 swimmer Samantha Neill won the bronze after achieving a total of 286 points after finishing in 1:27.89.

Williamson said: That was great.

"I have only been back in the water for twelve weeks and it was tough but it didn’t hurt as much as it used to.

"I have a new coach and we have been working well together.

"I am looking forward to getting some more time back in the water in the lead up to the World Championships."
 
The 100m butterfly saw Swansea Performance’s Rhiannon Henry, in the S13 category, secure the qualifying time for the World Championships as she dominated the race to touch in a time of 1:08.10 and won gold with 908 points.

Another Swansea swimmer Stephanie Millward also secured World Championship qualification in the S9 category as she won silver in a1:11.20 to collect 824 points.

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