Canadian para-swimmer Newkirk sets world record in S7 women’s 50m backstroke

BERLIN – Shelby Newkirk of Saskatoon broke the world record in the S7 women’s 50-metre backstroke Friday at the sixth and final stop on the Para-swimming World Series circuit.

Newkirk won silver in the multi-class race at 38.00 seconds. That eclipsed the previous S7 world mark of 38.32 set by China’s Keting Li at the 2016 Rio Paralympics.

“I was really happy with my technique,” said Newkirk, who has a neurological disorder called dystonia that affects her four limbs. “I had a good start to the day in the preliminaries and I looked at what I needed to do to improve in the final. I really put that into place.”

Hannah Russell of Britain won the race on 31.61, setting a world record in the S12 category.

Aurelie Rivard of Saint-Jean-sur-Richelieu, Que., added a bronze in the women’s 100m freestyle. Rivard also broke a world record Thursday, winning gold in the S10 200 freestyle.