U.S. Paralympic Trials: Morgan Stickney Improves Her 400 Free S7 World Record
Morgan Stickney provided the fireworks Friday on the second night of U.S. Paralympic Team Trials, lowering her world record in the women’s S7 400 free.
Stickney won the multi-class event in 4:51.50. That slashes nearly three seconds off the 4:54.28 world standard she had set at the World Championships in Manchester, England, last summer. Stickney, who turned 27 this month, won gold in the S8 100 free and one a relay at the Tokyo Paralympics in 2021.
“The energy on deck is very different than in Tokyo,” Stickney told U.S. Para Swimming. “It’s more energetic and fantastic having the crowd here cheering us on. My training is very different from what I was doing leading up to Tokyo, being in the hospital nine days out of the month. I wasn’t expecting to come in and break the world record, it was super unexpected.”
Summer Schmit’s 4:52.27 set the pace in S9, Schmit performing in her home water at the University of Minnesota, where she trains.
“I am super excited for the rest of the week,” Schmit said. “I have the 200 (individual medley) tomorrow, and I’m now down two races. It has been really nice having one race a day since it’s been a hard couple months of training for me. It’s great to be able to see all my hard work come to fruition.”
The second day of the three-day meet saw the return of Anatasia Pagonis, who was the quickest S11 swimmer at 5:12.08. The 20-year-old won gold in the event at the Tokyo Olympics (plus bronze in the SM11 200 individual medley), but has been largely out of the water in the intervening three years due to injuries. Pagonis also won the S11 100 free in 1:08.19.
Jessica Long went 4:52.98 to win the S8 category of the 400 free. She also won the S8 100 free in 1:08.85.
“I’m feeling so grateful for my husband and my family being here,” Long said. “I am definitely going through the motions of how do I continuously look for that spark to push me forward. I love swimming and I’ve been a part of it for so long, so it is important to remind myself of the mental toughness that I have always had. For me this Trials is just the stepping stone to the big show, the Paralympic Games in Paris this summer.”
She was one of several swimmers facing doubles in freestyle. Stickney went 1:09.57 to win the S7 100 free ahead of Elizabeth Marks (1:11.64) and McKenzie Coan (1:12.03), who had been second in the 400. Christie Raleigh Crossley led the S9 women’s 100 fee in 1:02.21. Alexandra Truwit claimed the S10 race in 1:03.19.
Piper Sadowski and Trevor Lukacsko won the women’s and men’s S14 200 freestyle, respectively.
S10 swimmer Yaseen El-Demerdash set the fastest time in the men’s 100 freestyle, going 55.68. Noah Jaffe (59.20) was first in the S8 race, with Zack Shattuck (1:13.69) leading the S6 field.
Full event winners from Night 2 of Paralympic Trials
- Piper Sadowski (Women’s 200-meter Freestyle S14)
- Trevor Lukacsko (Men’s 200-meter Freestyle S14)
- Connor Gioffreda (Men’s 400-meter Freestyle S6)
- Morgan Stickney (Women’s 400-meter Freestyle S7)
- Evan Austin (Men’s 400-meter Freestyle S7)
- Jessica Long (Women’s 400-meter Freestyle S8)
- Noah Jaffe (Men’s 400-Meter Freestyle S8)
- Summer Schmit (Women’s 400-meter Freestyle S9)
- Carson Bruner (Men’s 400-meter Freestyle S9)
- Alexandra Truwit (Women’s 400-Freestyle S10)
- Anastasia Pagonis (Women’s 400-meter Freestyle S11)
- Olivia Chambers (Women’s 400-meter Freestyle S13)
- Leanne Smith (Women’s 50-meter Backstroke S3)
- Victoria Beelner (Women’s 50-meter Backstroke S5)
- Abbas Karimi (Men’s 50-meter Backstroke S5)
- Zack Shattuck (Men’s 100-meter Freestyle S6)
- Leanne Smith (Women’s 100-meter Freestyle S3)
- Morgan Stickney (Women’s 100-meter Freestyle S7)
- Noah Jaffe (Men’s 100 Meter Freestyle S8)
- Christie Raleigh-Crossley (Women’s 100-meter Freestyle S9
- Gabi Farinas (Women’s 100-meter Freestyle S10)
- Yaseen El-Demerdash (Men’s 100-meter Freestyle S10)
- Anastasia Pagonis (Women’s 100-meter Freestyle S11)