MANCHESTER, UNITED KINGDOM – A world record from Morgan Stickney (Cary, North Carolina) and two double podiums for Team USA highlighted a massive, five-medal second night for the Americans at the 2023 Para Swimming World Championships in Manchester, United Kingdom.
Stickney and S7 teammate Ahalya Lettenberger (Glen Ellyn, Illinois) powered to a 1-2 finish in the women’s 400-meter freestyle to kick off the big night for the Americans. Rounding out the medal haul for the evening were a trio of SB13 medals from David Abrahams (Havertown, Pennsylvania), who brought home bronze for his first career worlds medal, and the duo of Colleen Young (St. Louis, Missouri) and Olivia Chambers (Little Rock, Arkansas), who went 2-3 in the women’s 100-meter breaststroke SB13.
Headlining the night was Stickney, who broke away early and never looked back for a convincing victory in the women’s 400-meter freestyle S7. The Paralympic champion’s world record-setting pace was nearly 28 seconds ahead of the rest of the competition.
For Stickney, training solo helped her find motivation to push herself in the final laps, despite holding a large lead from the beginning of the race. Her time of 4:54.28 smashed a 11-year-old record, set at the Paralympic Games London 2012, by nearly five seconds.
“I’m really used to just trying to dig in when things start hurting, so that’s what I was doing,” she said. “I just swam my own race and didn’t worry about anyone else. I think that’s the best way to race.”
A two-time Paralympic medalist, Stickney won the 2022 world championships and 2020 Paralympic gold medals in the women’s 400-meter freestyle S8, but was reclassified to S7 this season. The win tonight marks her third consecutive 400-meter freestyle win at a major international competition.
“It’s been a really tough year, I’ve been in and out of the hospital every month,” Stickney, who has documented her journey on Instagram, said. “So being able to achieve a world record and come home with a gold medal is just amazing, and to be able to represent the best country in the world is an added bonus.”
Teammate and Paralympic silver medalist Lettenberger put together a massive, come-from behind swim to take silver for Team USA’s first double podium of the meet. Lettenberger, who was the 2022 worlds bronze medalist in the event and swims at Rice University, trailed Sabrina Duchesne of Canada by more than a second at the 150-meter mark, but surged in the second half of the race to complete the American’s 1-2 finish.
“I’m just stoked to win a medal for Team USA, especially after finishing just off the podium last night, this feels really good,” she said. “My freestyle training has been going really well, so I wanted to reset today with a fresh start.”
Lettenberger wraps her world championships with her silver and a fourth-place finish in yesterday’s 200-meter individual medley S7. She said ending her meet with a podium finish alongside a teammate was extra special.
“It was really fun to race against Morgan and to see her break the world record,” Lettenberger said. “It’s the greatest feeling to be able to be on the podium with Morgan and to get to hear the anthem played.”
The second Team USA double podium of the day belonged to Young and Chambers, who took silver and bronze, respectively, in the women’s 100-meter breaststroke SB13.
The two-time Paralympic medalist Young is the 2022 world champion in the event and earned her sixth career 100-meter breaststroke worlds podium. Her time of 1:15.89 was .88 seconds off the gold medal-winning time, set by Rebecca Redfern of Great Britain.
“There are really great competitors in this race, and I know every time I race this it’s going to be a tight competition,” Young said. “That’s a pretty good time for me and I gave it my all so I can’t be mad at that. Obviously the ultimate goal is to win gold but that wasn’t in the cards for me today. I never take the opportunity to represent Team USA for granted.”
Chambers finished in 1:18.45 for her second bronze medal in two days in her world championships debut. Young spoke highly of her teammate, who she said is a promising young talent in the historically strong women’s S13 class in the U.S.
“She’s so fast,” she said. “She’s new to Para swimming and it’s so exciting to see someone so new get up and race and not be intimidated at the level of competition. America has a really good standard of women S13’s, so it’s really exciting to know that isn’t going away any time soon.”
Both athletes still have busy weeks ahead of them. Young will return to the pool for three additional competitions in Manchester, while Chambers still has four more events on her schedule.
Already a Paralympic silver medalist in Tokyo, Abrahams captured the first world championships medal of his career in the first race of his worlds debut. His bronze medal came in the men’s 100-meter breaststroke SB13, in which he posted a time of 1:05.55.
“It’s been a tough few years where I’ve been pretty stagnant and my times kept going up,” he said. “That was really one of the first times I’ve seen it go down to where it has been historically. We do this sport to get results, and there’s no feeling like it.”
In addition to his medal, Abrahams, along with teammate Hannah Aspden (Raleigh, North Carolina), was elected captain for Team USA in Manchester. Leading his team in the pool and out of it has been an honor, he said.
“I get goosebumps every time I think about it,” he said. “It’s an unbelievable honor. This is such an exceptional group of individuals and to know they view me in that way and that they elected me to that position is just indescribable.”
In her second race in Manchester, Paralympic silver medalist Leanne Smith (Salem, Massachusetts) took home a seventh-place finish in the women’s 150-meter individual medley SM3. The 10-time world champion will have a day off before finishing her championships with four straight races on consecutive days.
In preliminary heat action, Team USA’s Summer Schmit (Stillwater, Minnesota) and Aspden raced to fifth-place finishes in their respective heats of the women’s 200-meter individual medley SM9. Both still have their best events ahead of them, with Schmit scheduled to race her signature 400-meter freestyle on Friday, while Aspden has the 100-meter backstroke in addition to two more freestyle races.
Competition resumes August 2 at 9 a.m. local time with the third day of preliminary heats. All sessions will be streamed live on NBC’s Peacock, and live results can be found here. Follow U.S. Paralympics Swimming on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram for updates and results throughout the competition, which runs through August 6.
