Maisie Summers-Newton overcame crippling self-doubt to win individual medley gold

By Tom Harle at La Defense Arena

Maisie Summers-Newton overcame crippling self-doubt to retain her medley title and cement her status as the face of British para swimming.

The 22-year-old romped to victory in the SM6 200m individual medley by a margin of 5.60 seconds.

Summers-Newton made it look easy as she surged clear on the breaststroke leg but then revealed that defending her crown was anything but.

“I was really, really nervous,” said the Northampton native.

“I think that is something that has come since Tokyo, there has been a lot of pressure being Paralympic champion. I’m a person who is quite self-doubtful.

“I’m just trying to enjoy it and remind myself that I’ve been at the top since 2018 and I’m obviously doing something right. I think I put so much pressure on myself.”

American Ellie Marks was 1.32 seconds in front after the butterfly and backstroke legs.

The Brit used her strength in the breaststroke - she will aim to repeat as 100m champion later in the Games - to bury Marks and touch the wall first in a time of 2:56.90.

“When I got in, I could see how close I was to some of the girls, they are usually ahead of me on the fly and the back,” said Summers-Newton.

“On the backstroke, I was like ‘you’re in a really good place here’. I just can’t believe it and it has been such a good three years since Tokyo.”

In those three years, Summers-Newton has qualified as a teacher and finished her last placement at Bridgewater Primary School in March.

Inheriting a leadership role from idol Ellie Simmonds, she is now the ringleader of the British squad.

"I've definitely become a more senior member of the team," she said. "We've got such young athletes like Poppy (Maskill) and Iona (Winnifrith) coming up and for me, it's about trying to inspire them and pass on as much knowledge as I can.

"It comes quite naturally to me and I'd like to think I'm quite a caring, motherly type of person."

Tully Kearney struck gold for the second time in 24 hours, successfully defending her S6 100m freestyle crown.

The 27-year-old needed to dig deep after winning 200m gold on opening night and the task was made even tougher by a late-night doping test that left her with minimal time to pull round.

“This experience has made me realise I need to stop questioning myself and my abilities,” said Kearney, who could yet make it three golds in the 50m backstroke. “Technically I nailed what I needed to do but I am very tired.”

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