James Scully smashed his personal best on his way to a sixth placed finish in the final of the S5 200m Freestyle in the Rio Aquatics Centre last night.
In front of a raucous home crowd, Scully battled hard after the turn and recorded a time of 2:51.45 and described the experience as "the pinnacle moment of my career to date".
"I’ve been chasing a PB and come up short so many times since London, there’s been so much heartbreak, but to be able to do it, this is when it counts," he said after the race.
"I knew when I swam 0.1 off it this morning that there was a lot left in the tank and I released it there."
The 23-year-old had progressed to the final in a time of 2:53.17, which was, to that point, his second fastest swim ever in the event. His previous best time of 2:53.03 was from the London 2012 Paralympic final and impressively he bettered that by over a second and a half in last night's final.
"I’m over the moon, 10 out of 10 this is absolutely the pinnacle moment of my career to date. The atmosphere out there, I can’t stress it enough, it will never be matched at another Games, I’m so grateful to Brazil they’ve put on a phenomenal show.
"People underestimate the crowds, the atmosphere they create, 10,000 people, I know they were screaming for someone else but I went out there and thought they’re screaming for me now, so I embraced the atmosphere.”
Brazil’s Daniel Dias won the event to the delight of the home fans in 2:27.88, while USA’s Roy Perkins touched for Silver in 2:38.56 and Great Britain’s Andrew Mullins claimed Bronze in 2:40.65.
Scully returns to the pool on Monday for the 50m Freestyle heats.
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