Swimmers Sophie Pascoe, Nikita Howarth and Tupou Neiufi have put themselves into contention for more medals at the Tokyo Paralympics, qualifying for finals on Wednesday evening.
Pascoe, who only hours earlier took out the S9 100m freestyle, clocked the fastest time in 200m individual medley heats with 2m 34.55s and will enjoy the prime draw for her medal race. Hungarian Zsofia Konkoly was next fastest with 2m 35.16s.
Making her first appearance at the Tokyo Aquatics Centre, Howarth finished second in her heat and third-fastest in SB7 100m breaststroke preliminaries, with 1m 36.05s. Maria Pavlova of Russian Olympic Committee clocked 1m 33.15s in winning her heat.
Neiufi, who took out the S8 100m backstroke on day two, may have her work cut out over 50m freestyle, clocking the fourth-fastest heat time of 32.47s.
Jesse Reynolds also qualified for SM9 200m individiual medley heats, finishing fourth in his heat to progress among the fastest eight swimmers.
Meanwhile, track sprinter Danielle Aitchison has set an Oceania record over T36 100m, clocking 14.35s to win her heat at the Olympic Stadium. She progresses into Wednesday night's final as fastest qualifier, ahead of Chinese Shi Yiting, who beat the Kiwi for gold over 200m on Sunday.
New Zealand has now won eight medals at the Tokyo Paralympics, with Neiufi, Pascoe and shot putter Lisa Adams securing gold. The Games finish on Saturday.
Kiwis in action on Wednesday (NZ time) are:
Wednesday, September 1
SWIMMING
Women’s 100m breaststroke heats - Nikita Howarth (SB7), 2nd 1m 36.05s (progresses to final)
Men’s 200m individual medley heats - Jesse Reynolds (SM9), 4th 2m 24.89s (progresses to final)
Women’s 200m individual medley heats - Sophie Pascoe (SM9), 1st 2m 34.55s (progresses to final)
Women’s 50m freestyle heats - Tupou Neiufi (S8), 2nd 32.47s (progresses to final)
8:07pm Women’s 100m breaststroke final - Nikita Howarth (SB7)
9:31pm Men’s 200m individual medley final - Jesse Reynolds (SM9)
9:39pm Women’s 200m individual medley final - Sophie Pascoe (SM9)
10:36pm Women’s 50m freestyle final - Tupou Neiufi (S8)
CYCLING
Men’s road race - Rory Mead (H2), 5th 2h 23m 08s
ATHLETICS
Women’s 100m heats - Danielle Aitchison (T36), 1st 14.35s (Oceania record, progresses to final)
10:10pm Women’s 100m final - Danielle Aitchison (T36)
SHOOTING
2:30pm Mixed 10m air rifle prone qualifying - Michael Johnson (SH2), 9th 635.2 points (does not progress)
Paralympic classifications
Each athlete is given a classification, depending on the severity of their impairment. Here is a brief summary of classifications for the NZ Paralympic team...
ATHLETICS
T36 = Track, cerebral palsy
CYCLING
H2 = Handcycle, spinal injury
SHOOTING
SH2 = Rifle, arm impairment from spinal injury
SWIMMING
S7/SB7/SM7 = Swimming, double arm deficiency
S8/SB8/SM8 = Swimming, left-side paralysis
S9/SB9/SM10 = Swimming, leg deficiency below knee
In swimming, some impairments affect some strokes more than others, hence multiple classifications.