U.S. Swimmers Set Five New American Records On Final Day Of 2016 U.S. Paralympic Team Trials - Swimming

CHARLOTTE, N.C. – The third and final day of competition at the 2016 U.S. Paralympic Swim Trials saw multiple American records and a Pan American record fall at the Mecklenburg County Aquatic Center Saturday evening in Charlotte, North Carolina. Six new records were crafted by four different athletes as Michelle Konkoly (Eagleville, Pennsylvania), Garner Moss (Madison, Wisconsin), Zach Shattuck (Mt. Airy, Maryland) and Robert Griswold (Freehold, New Jersey) all added their names to the record books.

Konkoly dazzled the crowd on hand for the second day in a row by breaking the women’s S9 100-meter freestyle American and Pan American records in both the preliminary and final rounds of day three. Konkoly finished with a time of 1:02.00 in the preliminary portion of the day and followed suit by lowering the record to 1:01.25 in the finals. Konkoly twice broke the women’s S9 50 freestyle world record the day before.

Moss collected his second American record of the Trials, finishing with a time of 1:12.49 in the men's S14 100 backstroke in the preliminaries. Moss won the event in the evening session, touching the wall at 1:13.14.

Shattuck provided the fireworks in two separate events, manufacturing American records in the men's S6 100 freestyle and the men's SM6 200 individual medley. The Frostburg State University product flashed times of 1:13.73 in the preliminary freestyle race and 3:01.09 in the individual medley final.

Griswold claimed the final record of the Trials with a stellar 1:04.69 in the men's S8 100 backstroke to earn the American record. Griswold cut nearly half a second off his preliminary time, coming through in the clutch when the meet mattered most.

Twelve-time Paralympic gold medalist Jessica Long (Baltimore, Maryland) and Noah Scherf (Michigan City, Indiana) led all swimmers with three victories in the final round of competition. 2012 Paralympian Evan Austin (Terre Haute, Indiana), three-time Paralympian Cody Bureau (Blacksburg, Virginia), Toronto 2015 Parapan American Games bronze medalist Serfina King (El Segundo, California), nine-time Paralympic medalist Cortney Jordan (Henderson, Nevada), 2012 Paralympian Letticia Martinez (Las Cruces, New Mexico), two-time Paralympic medalist Rebecca Meyers (Baltimore, Maryland), Toronto 2015 gold medalist Leslie Cichocki (Pallos Hills, Illinois), Moss and Shattuck all won two races apiece Saturday night.

The 2016 U.S. Paralympic Swimming Team will be officially named in a public announcement taking place on Sunday, July 3 at 11 a.m. at Romare Bearden Park. The celebration is free and open to the public.

The 2016 U.S. Paralympic Team Trials – Swimming and Track & Field are being held in Charlotte, North Carolina, June 30 – July 2, and are hosted by Partners for Parks. Thanks to support from The Coca-Cola Company, BP, and Deloitte, the multi-sport Trials feature more than 400 athletes who are competing for a chance to qualify for the Rio 2016 Paralympic Games. All events are free and open to the public. For more information, visit USParalympics.org/2016TeamTrials.

For more information, please contact Joe Clarke, U.S. Paralympics, at 703-554-3479 or Joe.Clarke@usoc.org.

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