Maisie Summers-Newton feels the pressure but lands another gold medal

British swimmer Maisie Summers-Newton was feeling the pressure of being reigning Paralympic champion before successfully defending her 200 metres individual medley title in Paris.

The 22-year-old was one of the breakout stars of Tokyo 2020 following double gold in the pool on debut.

Summers-Newton, who this summer qualified as a primary school teacher, produced another A* performance, touching the wall in two minutes 56.90 seconds in the SM6 classification.

“I was really, really nervous,” said Summers-Newton, who holds the world record in the event.

“I think that’s something that’s come since Tokyo.

“There’s a lot of pressure being Paralympic champion and then trying to defend your title.

“It’s been a lot, but I’m just trying to enjoy it and remind myself: you’ve been at the top since 2018. It’s a long time.”

Earlier, Tully Kearney claimed her second gold of the Games as she retained the S5 100m freestyle title.

The 27-year-old, who won the S5 200m freestyle crown on Thursday evening, again held off the challenge of Ukraine’s Iryna Poida and Italian Monica Boggioni.

“I was a bit concerned about this one,” said Kearney after winning in a minute and 15.10 seconds. “To retain my title feels incredible.

“It was really hard for all of us who swam last night to keep the energy up.

“It (the last 24 hours) has made me realise I need to stop questioning myself and my abilities.”

Britain’s Brock Whiston clinched silver in the penultimate event of the evening at La Defense Arena.

She finished the women’s SB8 100 breaststroke final in 1:21.04, 1.29 secs behind Spain’s Anastasiya Dmytriv Dmytriv.

“I’m actually really disappointed, not because I came second but my time,” said Whiston.

“I’ve done a lot faster this season. I don’t really know what happened but I think I went out too slow and had too much work to do on the second 50m.

“I should be proud but I’m quite harsh on myself and I always want to do better.”