‘That is absolutely insane’ – Tully Kearney smashes world record to win gold in World Para-swimming Championships

Britain’s Tully Kearney hailed her gold medal in the S5 freestyle on day six of the World Para-swimming Championships as “absolutely insane” as she broke a 22-year-old world record.

Kearney finished in a time of two minutes 42.36 seconds to break Beatrice Hess’ previous world record, set by the French Paralympian at Sydney 2000 by 2.25 seconds.

It is her second gold of the championship after her 50m freestyle success on Sunday’s opening day of competition.

It is a remarkable result considering she has been receiving treatment for a shoulder injury.

“That is just absolutely insane,” she said. “I’ve been adapting my training a bit because of my shoulder. We kind of changed it up and did something slightly different to Tokyo with less miles but more intensity.

“I wasn’t quite sure what would happen over the longer distances but obviously it’s paid off and I just can’t believe how quick I went.

“I’ve really struggled recovering between heats and finals and if it wasn’t for the British Swimming medical team I wouldn’t have been able to do that so I’m really grateful to them.”

Meanwhile, Maisie Summers-Newton won her third world title of the week with victory in the SB6 100m breaststroke.

Britain’s third gold of the day came in the mixed S14 4×100 medley relay, with Bethany Firth anchoring the team to win by just 0.01 seconds for her fifth title of the week.

“This team was amazing,” said Firth, who took over in third place, three-and-a-half seconds back, but came through brilliantly.

“With so many S14s, just to make this team is such a privilege and I didn’t want to let any of them down. We went for it and got gold. I couldn’t have given any more and was so glad to touch first.”