Bethany sets new record in Rio build-up

Bethany sets new record in Rio build-up

6 July 2016

SEAFORDE’S Bethany Firth Firth is warming up nicely for next month’s Paralympic Games in Rio de Janeiro.

The 20 year-old golden girl set a new world record for the S14 200m freestyle at the Scottish Open National Championships in Glasgow on Thursday. 

Bethany, who won a gold medal at the 2012 Paralympic games in London in the S14 100 metres backstroke final while representing Ireland, finished fifth in the Glasgow final in a time of 2:02.09, beating the previous best set by Russian Valeriia Shabalina, who will go head-to-head with her in Rio.

Bethany, who also won three silver medals at the 2013 IPC Swimming World Championships, has opted to swim for Great Britain instead of Ireland this time.

She broke the world record in the S14 200m freestyle for the first time earlier this year at the British Para-International meeting in Glasgow when she recorded a time of 2:03.70.