Record breaking weekend for Norfolk swimming star Jessica-Jane Applegate
Jessica-Jane Applegate with her Paralympic gold medal at a ivic ceremony in Great Yarmouth following the 2012 Games. Picture: Nick Butcher - Credit: Nick Butcher
Norfolk swimming star Jessica-Jane Applegate has finished her season on a memorable high, after breaking two world and two European records.
The 19-year-old, from Belton, near Great Yarmouth, was competing at the National Para-Swimming Championships in Manchester.
The UEA City of Norwich Swimming Club swimmer had a memorable weekend, breaking two world and two European records, clocking new world times in the 100m freestyle (59.04secs) and 100m butterfly (1:07.28mins).
Applegate won gold in the 200m freestyle at the London 2012 Paralympics and is the current 100m backstroke world champion, swimming in the S14 class.
Applegate, speaking to British Swimming's website, said: 'I'm really happy with my swims, which have gone really well. I'm in really heavy training at the moment, but this weekend I'm just going for it. I've broken records too, and I need to thank my coach Alex (Pinniger) who has just been amazing.
Sporting guest at the Norfolk Sports Awards 2015, Paralympic swimmer Jessica-Jane Applegate. Picture: DENISE BRADLEY - Credit: Copyright: Archant 2015
'Next year I'll be getting my head down, targeting the trials in Glasgow in April for Rio. It's been good to end the season on a high.'
The former Ormiston Victory Academy pupil, who has an autism spectrum disorder, was made an MBE in 2013 and is an ambassador for charities including Community Sports Foundation and Mencap.
Most Read
- 1 M&S to close 32 stores as part of move away from town centres
- 2 WATCH: 'Unplayable' delivery from Suffolk bowler goes viral
- 3 Norfolk zoo keeper abandoned as a baby reunited with mother in ITV show
- 4 9 of the best campsites on the Norfolk coast
- 5 Norwich man in court over £3.5m whiskey theft
- 6 Men fined more than £600 for fishing illegally
- 7 Café completely sells out on first week of launching Sunday roasts
- 8 A47 clears following long delays after four-vehicle crash
- 9 Woman freed from vehicle after car overturns near to shops
- 10 'Mishap' at historic hotel as van crashes into entrance wall
She claimed a gold and two silvers at the IPC World Championships in Glasgow in the summer, winning the 100m backstroke and finishing second in the 200m freestyle and 200m individual medley – all in personal best times.
Applegate's fellow British Paralympic champions Bethany Firth and Ellie Simmonds also set new records in Manchester.
Firth, from Northern Ireland, set a new world record in the S14 200m freestyle, of 2:04.44 two minutes, to beat the previous time of 2:04.98 set by Russian world champion Valeria Shabalina.
While four-time Paralympic gold medallist Simmonds, with a time of 3:00.01, also improved her own time in the SM6 200m medley, which was previously at 3:01.02.
