Ince lags behind in 400m freestyle heat

T&T’s Shanntol Ince finished sixth and last in the second heat qualifier and was unable to secure a spot in the final in the 400m freestyle event at the London 2012 Paralympics, yesterday. Swimming in lane seven with a qualifying time of 5:39.48, Ince improved with a 5:27.88 finish, which was still considerably behind Natalie du Toit of South Africa, who won the heat in 4:32.59; a difference of 55.29 seconds. Australian Ellie Cole and Christiane Reppe posed the two second fastest times in the second heat, while the first heat was taken by Great Britain’s Stephanie Millward and compatriot Amy Marren for first and second place, followed by American Elizabeth Stone.

 

Later on, the gold medal was eventually snatched by a dominant du Toit as expected in 4:30.18, followed by Millward and Cole for silver and bronze, respectively. Ince, 17, also finished last in her 100m butterfly event heat, last Thursday, after finishing last with a time of 1:25.50, knocking her out of contention for a place in the final. A day later, Ince similarly failed to advance from the her 100m backstroke heat with a last placed finish (1:22.14). T&T’s only other Paralympic athlete Carlos Greene also failed to get to the final of his two events, the discus and shot put (both S1), despite setting a new personal record of 10.87m in the latter.