Champion in 2013 guarantees index for the Paralympic Swimming World Championship

Paralympic swimming world champion ten years ago, in Montreal (Canada), veteran Susana Scharndorf reached, this Sunday (21), the index to represent Brazil in this year’s edition of the competition, which will be in Manchester (United Kingdom), among 31 July and August 6th. The 55-year-old from Rio Grande do Sul reached the mark on the second and last day of the National Circuit of the modality, held at the Paralympic Training Center, in São Paulo. Susana, who competes in the S3 class (severe physical-motor impairments), needed 2min07s69 in the 100 meters (m) freestyle to obtain the index. The swimmer completed the race in 2min01s12, qualifying for the fourth Paralympic World Championship in her career, after participating in 2013, 2015 and 2019. She had not reached the mark for the last edition, in Funchal (Portugal), last year. On that occasion, Brazil was on the podium 53 times, 19 of which at the top, a record. “This test was very important to me. I wanted to dedicate this race to everyone who cheered for me, to my children and to my mother who is cheering for me from above”, celebrated the swimmer on the website of the Brazilian Paralympic Committee (CPB). The gaúcha was diagnosed, in 2005, with a disease called multiple systems atrophy, which affects the autonomic nervous system and affects movements. As it is degenerative, the condition forces the swimmer to undergo frequent functional reclassifications (a process that defines the athlete’s category, according to the degree of disability). The most recent one, in April, during a stage of the World Circuit, in Singapore, changed it from the S4 class to the S3 (the higher the number, the lower the degree of physical-motor impairment). In 2013, when she was world champion in the 100 m backstroke, Susana was in S6. The National Circuit was the last opportunity for swimmers to establish the index required by the CPB and join the selection in Manchester. The first selection was the Paralympic International Open, in April, also at the Paralympic CT. On the occasion, 20 athletes reached milestones. In addition to Rio Grande do Sul, two other swimmers stood out in the Paralympic CT pool this Sunday, improving their own records in the Americas. Ana Karolina Soares from Minas Gerais set the new best continental mark in the 100m freestyle in class S14 (intellectual disability), with 1min00s26, while Mariana Gesteira from Rio de Janeiro did 27s89 in the 50m freestyle in class S9 (the second with the least physical-motor impairment). The official call-up for the Manchester World Cup is expected to come out by the end of May. In addition to the athletes with individual marks, other competitors must be called to compose the relay events. Check, below, the list of swimmers with index for the competition, separated by class. Physical disabilities S2: Gabriel Araújo and Bruno Becker S3: Patrícia Pereira, Edênia Garcia, Maiara Barreto and Susana Scharnadorf S5: Samuel Oliveira and Esthefany Rodrigues S6: Talisson Glock, Laila Suzigan and Daniel Mendes S8: Cecília Araújo S9: Mariana Gesteira and Ruan Souza S10: Phelipe Rodrigues Visual impairment S12: Carol Santiago and Douglas Matera Intellectual disability S14: Gabriel Bandeira, Débora Carneiro, Beatriz Carneiro and João Pedro Brutos

Agência Brasil