The Women's EAD 50 metre freestyle event at the 2002 Commonwealth Games was held on 31 July at the Manchester Aquatics Centre.

Classification The events were run on a multi-disability format, which included both physically disabled and visually impaired swimmers i.e. the International Paralympic Committee’s Swimming Classification S1 – S13. Classes S1 – S10 are allocated to swimmers with a physical disability ranging from swimmers with a severe disability (S1) to those with a minimal disability (S10). Classes S11 – S13 are allocated to swimmers with a visual impairment ranging from swimmers with no vision or may have light perception (S11) to those with some visual acuity (S13).

Format All classes, 1 through 13 swan together in 3 heats and a final event. Positions were determined by each athlete’s time relative to the current world record for the appropriate classification of the swimmer. This may have meant that the swimmer touching first may not have been the winner.

World records were time standardised to identify both the finalists and medal winners throughout the competition. This meant that the same ‘time marker’ was used in the heats and the final irrespective of whether the world record had been broken during the course of competition.

Records Prior to this competition, the existing world records were as follows; Class Name Time Location Date S1 1:34.24 Sheffield, England 7 June 2002 S2 1:15.46 Sydney, Australia 27 October 2000 S3 59.92 Sydney, Australia 27 October 2000 S4 39.23 Sydney, Australia 27 October 2000 S5 36.85 Sydney, Australia 27 October 2000 S6 36.02 Sydney, Australia 28 October 2000 S7 34.95 Christchurch, New Zealand 13 October 1998 S8 31.85 Sydney, Australia 28 October 2000 S9 30.74 S10 28.44 Sydney, Australia 28 October 2000 S11 33.02 Atlanta, United States 25 August 1996 S12 28.16 Madrid, Spain 25 July 1998 S13 27.38 Atlanta, United States 25 August 1996

The following records were established during the competition: Date Event Class Name Nationality Time Result Record 31 July Heats S5 Theresa Goh 51.05 +14.20 GR 31 July Heats S7 Danielle Campo 35.92 +0.97 GR 31 July Final S7 Danielle Campo 35.02 +0.07 GR 31 July Heats S8 Matia Baun Seling 58.85 +27.00 GR 31 July Heats S9 Natalie du Toit 29.53 -1.21 WR 31 July Heats S10 Sarah Bailey 31.34 +2.90 GR 31 July Heats S11 Elaine Barrett 34.89 +1.87 GR 31 July Final S11 Elaine Barrett 34.46 +1.44 GR 31 July Heats S13 Rhiannon Henry 30.16 +2.78 GR 31 July Heats S13 Karolina Pelendritou 29.93 +2.55 GR 31 July Final S13 Karolina Pelendritou 29.88 +2.50 GR

Results Heats The 8 fastest swimmers in the heats qualified for the semifinals.

Rank Heat Lane Name Class Nationality Time Result Notes 1 1 4 S9 29.53 -1.21 Q, WR 2 3 5 S9 30.69 -0.05 Q 3 1 3 S7 35.92 +0.97 Q, GR 4 1 5 S9 31.80 +1.06 Q 5 3 6 S11 34.89 +1.87 Q, GR 6 2 3 S9 32.75 +2.01 Q 7 3 3 S9 33.13 +2.39 Q 8 3 4 S13 29.93 +2.55 Q, GR 9 2 4 S13 30.16 +2.78 GR 10 2 5 S10 31.34 +2.90 GR 11 2 6 S10 35.11 +6.67 12 1 6 S5 51.05 +14.20 GR 13 3 2 S9 46.87 +16.13 14 1 2 S8 58.85 +27.00 GR 15 2 7 S9 1:01.86 +31.12 16 2 2 S9 1:14.81 +44.07 3 7 S5

Final The final was held on 31 July at 19:51. Rank Lane Name Class Nation Time Result Notes 4 S9 29.68 -1.06 5 S9 30.60 -0.14 3 S7 35.02 +0.07 GR 4 6 S9 31.79 +1.05 5 2 S11 34.46 +1.44 GR 6 7 S9 32.75 +2.01 7 1 S9 32.82 +2.08 8 8 S13 29.88 +2.50 GR

References