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Wening big American swimmer wins third straight gold
SYDNEY, Australia (AP) -- Jason Wening completed a unique triple of Paralympic swimming titles Sunday, crowning his third consecutive gold in the 400 meters freestyle by shattering his own world record. Wening, co-captain of the U.S. swim team, has not been beaten over 400 meters in his S8 category since 1991 -- when he broke the world record for the first time -- and had won the Paralympic titles in 1992 and 1996. He clinched his third gold in style, avoiding the fate of Olympic swimmers Alex Popov of Russia and Australia's Keiren Perkins, who both took silver in Sydney after winning gold in their respective events at Barcelona and Atlanta. Popov and Perkins had been vying to become the first men to win the same swimming event at three successive Olympics. Despite achieving his personal treble, Wening said it wouldn't be right to stack his record against the two Olympic legends. "It's fabulous to win three in a row, but I'll grant you it's harder to win at the Olympics," he said. "The Paralympics is very immature in comparison -- we're only having our 11th Summer Games -- but I'll settle for what I've got." The 26-year-old Wening, a bilateral below knee amputee with a partially formed left hand, was last off the blocks and had to haul back a two-second margin at the first turn to catch up to the early leaders. "I'm a back half swimmer, so it wasn't that hard," he explained. "I've become used to being last into the water racing against able-bodied swimmers who can dive further and get better turns, so coming from behind is no big deal." After setting a new world mark in qualifying earlier Sunday -- the eighth time he'd set or beaten the record -- he clocked four minutes, 42.97 seconds in the final to improve it again by almost three seconds. Juan Francisco Jiminez of Spain placed second in 4:51.0, more than eight seconds behind, with Emil Broendum in third on 4:53.43. Breaking the record twice in one day was an accident, Wening said, because he'd only targeted it for the final. "I thought breaking the record in the morning might have sapped too much energy but I guess it worked out," he said. "I knew it would take a world record to win it bcause every time I've won at the Paralympics, the silver medalist has gone under the old record as well." Wening, of Ann Arbor, Mich., said he's thinking of quitting while he's ahead and turning his attention to a new career. A doctoral candidate in biochemical engineering at the University of Michigan, he said he was looking forward to a new challenge. "I want to get on with my life and have a career -- maybe also do some motivational speaking and maybe, because I like open water swimming, try some open water marathons," he said. A self-described "masochist," he says he's even thinking of jumping into the pool between Paralympics sessions and swimming a 1,500 just so his coach can see if his time is improving. A regular competitor over 1,500, Wening won't get a chance over the distance event in Sydney because it's not on the Paralympic program. Two other U.S. swimmers took gold in the pool with world records Sunday. Stephanie Brooks, of Alpharetta, Ga., set a new mark to win gold in the women's S6 400-meter freestyle in a time of 6:19.13. Lauren Reynolds, of Basking Ridge, N.J., wiped almost nine seconds off the old record to win the women's S7 400-meter freestyle category with a time of 5:32.33. Another popular winner Sunday at the Sydney International Aquatic Center was Australian golden girl Priya Cooper, who won gold in the women's S8 400m freestyle to claim her ninth career Paralympic gold medal.
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