TOKYO - Jessica Long (Baltimore, Maryland) added to her Paralympic Games accolades by picking up her 14th career gold medal and 25th overall medal with a dominating performance in the women’s 200-meter individual medley SM8 during the fourth night of racing in the Tokyo Aquatic Center.
The five-time Paralympian and most decorated active athlete at the Paralympics was the first to touch the wall first at every 50-meter split en route to a 2:41.49 finish. The win tonight marks her fourth consecutive gold medal in this event and her second medal in Tokyo following a bronze in the 100-meter backstroke S8.
In the same event, Paralympic rookie Haven Shepherd (Carthage, Missouri) impressed in her Paralympic Games debut final earning a top-five finish. The 18-year-old dropped nearly five seconds off her morning swim and stopped the clock at 3:03.59 for a fifth-place finish.
Collecting another top-five finish for Team USA is two-time Paralympic medalist RobertGriswold (Freehold, N.J.). The gold medalist in the men’s 100-meter backstroke S8 finished fourth with a time of 2:24.97 in the men’s 100-meter individual medley SM8.
Team USA’s first medal from Saturday night came courtesy of two-time Paralympian Sophia Herzog (Fairplay, Colorado). Herzog, who set an Americas record earlier in the day, touched the wall in 1:36.06 for the bronze medal in the women's 100-meter breaststroke SB6. It was her second career Paralympic medal in this event.
Leanne Smith (Salem, Massachusetts) in her first career Paralympic Games final rounded out the top-five in the women’s 150-meter individual medley SM4 by finishing in 3:07.07.
Another finals swimmer was five-time Paralympian Rudy Garcia-Tolson (Colorado Springs, Colorado), who took sixth place in the men’s 100-meter breaststroke SB6 after turning in a time of 1:24.64.
Other notable races during the morning portion of the fourth day include Zach Shattuck (Mt. Airy, Maryland) who finished the men’s 100-meter breaststroke SB6 in 1:26.01 for ninth place overall. McClain Hermes (Dacula, Georgia) placed 11th in the women's 100m backstroke S11 with a 1:29.11. Jamal Hill (Inglewood, California) made his Paralympic Games debut and finished 16th with a 57.70 in the men’s 100-meter freestyle S10.
The halfway mark of racing continues tomorrow with the preliminary heats scheduled to begin at 8 p.m. EST and finals at 4 a.m. EST. All races will be livestreamed through NBCOlympics.com, on Peacock and through the NBC Sports app. A full schedule of events is available here.
-U.S. Olympic and Paralympic Committee-