Paralympics: Britain's Simmonds smashes own record twice

LONDON (AFP) –

Great Britain’s Eleanor Simmonds competes in the Women’s 200 metres IM Final SM6 category during the London 2012 Paralympic Games at the Aquatics Centre in the Olympic Park in east London. Simmonds won the race to win the gold medal.

British swim queen Ellie Simmonds broke her own world record twice on Monday, cementing her place as the host nation’s Paralympic poster girl in claiming her second gold of the London Games.

The 17-year-old won the SM6 200m individual medley in a record 3min 5.39sec, just hours after beating her own personal and world best in the heats with a time of 3min 6.97sec.

“I am just so chuffed,” she told Britain’s Channel 4 television. “I just kicked for home and really went for it. That was a tough race. I was just trying to go as fast as I can and to do a PB (personal best).”

Verena Schott of Germany claimed the silver while Simmonds’ teammate Natalie Jones came in third.

Simmonds, who was born with a form of dwarfism, had already set a world record in the S6 400 metres freestyle on Saturday.

She became a double gold medallist at the Beijing Olympics four years ago, aged just 13.