TOKYO — On the fifth day of racing inside the Tokyo Aquatic Center, McKenzie Coan (Clarksville, Ga.) secured her fourth career Paralympic gold medal with a win in the women’s 400-meter freestyle S7, en route to Team USA’s four medal night.
The reigning world and Paralympic champion in the event, Coan clocked a 5:05.84 to take home the win and lead the way for three of the four fastest times in the event to be recorded by Americans.
The five-time Paralympic medalist was joined on the podium by Julia Gaffney (Mayflower, Ark.), who finished third in 5:11.89 and collected her first piece of Paralympic hardware. Ahalya Lettenberger (Glen Ellyn, Ill.), the silver medalist in the women’s 200-meter individual medley SM7, just missed the podium after finishing in 5:13.55 for fourth place in the event.
Evan Austin (Terre Haute, Ind.) started the four-medal night for Team USA in the men’s 400-meter freestyle S7. The three-time Paralympian strategically paced his way to a 35.22 final 50-meter split and touched the wall in an Americas record time of 4:38.95 for the bronze medal. It was his first career Paralympic medal.
First-time Paralympian Jamal Hill (Inglewood, Calif.) continued the medal locomotive with an Americas record time of 25.19 in the men’s 50-meter freestyle S9 as he grabbed bronze.
Team USA’s night concluded with the women’s 4x100-meter freestyle 34 points team of Natalie Sims (Edina, Minn.), Morgan Stickney (Cary, N.C.), Jessica Long (Baltimore, Md.) and Hannah Aspden (Raleigh, N.C.). The quartet finished first, but their swim was ruled a disqualification along with the Great Britain relay team.
Other notable finals appearances for the U.S. team included Leanne Smith’s (Salem, Mass.) who finished sixth with a 1:02.93 in the women’s 50-meter backstroke S3, while Anastasia Pagonis (Long Island, N.Y.) sprinted to an eighth-place finish with a 30.91 in the women’s 50-meter freestyle S11. Pagonis’ event was a re-swim following an NPC’s appeal of the original race results.
The evening ended in heartbreak for the women’s 4x100-meter freestyle 34 points team of Natalie Sims (Edina, Minn.), Morgan Stickney (Cary, N.C.), Jessica Long (Baltimore, Md.) and Hannah Aspden (Raleigh, N.C.). The quartet finished first, but their swim was ruled a disqualification along with the Great Britain relay team.
The Americans also had a trio of swimmers in the water during the morning session. Gia Pergolini (Atlanta, Ga.), Martha Ruether (Allegany, N.Y.) and Colleen Young (St. Louis, Mo.) raced in the women's 50-meter freestyle S13, and finished ninth (28.18), 15th (28.88) and 20th (29.21), respectively.
The second half of 10 days of racing continues Monday with day six of Paralympic competition. Preliminary heats are scheduled to begin at 8 p.m. EST and finals start at 4 a.m. EST. All races will be live streamed 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-