Two Team USA Podium Sweeps Highlight Opening Day of World Series Competition in Indianapolis

INDIANAPOLIS, INDIANA – Team USA earned 15 medals and six youth medals as the CITI Para Swimming World Series 2024 – USA opened at the IU Natatorium in Indianapolis, Indiana.

Podium sweeps from the Americans in the women’s 100-meter freestyle and women’s 100-meter breaststroke highlighted the opening day of competition.  

Each event being contested this weekend is mixed class, and results are determined by World Para Swimming (WPS) points.

In a 100-meter freestyle S1-13 final packed with Team USA stars, Paralympic champion Morgan Stickney (Raleigh, North Carolina) brought home the gold medal. The S7 athlete swam 1:09.85 to claim the victory. Americans swept the podium, as 29-time Paralympic medalist Jessica Long (Baltimore, Maryland) and six-time Paralympic medalist McKenzie Coan (Clarkesville, Georgia) finished with silver and bronze, respectively.

In her first international swim meet since winning gold at the Paralympic Games Tokyo 2020, Anastasia Pagonis (Long Island, New York) set an American Record in the 100-meter freestyle S11 and took fourth behind Coan.

The second U.S. podium sweep of the day came in the 100-meter breaststroke SB4-9, SB11-14, where Olivia Chambers (Little Rock, Arkansas), Colleen Young (St. Louis, Missouri) and Elizabeth Marks (Colorado Springs, Colorado) went 1-2-2 for Team USA. Young and Marks tied to the point in their WPS rankings.

Chambers’ victory came on her 21st birthday. The University of Northern Iowa swimmer made her world championships debut last summer in Manchester, England, where she was Team USA’s most decorated swimmer with six medals.

Both SB13 athletes, Chambers and Young tied in the preliminary heats in the morning session before Chambers edged her teammate for the race win.

“It’s always fun to get out and race next to someone in your class,” Chambers said. “I wasn’t expecting to pull out that time today. I came here to have fun, I’m not really tapered for this meet, but I’m excited to be here and see everyone.”

Taking home silver in the men’s 100-meter freestyle S1-13 was Team USA’s Noah Jaffe (Carlsbad, California), who broke out at the 2023 Para Swimming World Championships in Manchester, England, and has since been one of the most dominant men’s S8 athletes in the world.

Jaffe is currently a finalist for the AAU James Sullivan Award, which is awarded to the nation’s top amateur athlete each year.

Earning their way onto the podium in the men’s 100-meter breaststroke SB4-9, SB11-14 were Team USA’s Morgan Ray (St. Augustine, Florida) and Aidan Stivers (Fishers, Indiana), who are each looking to punch their tickets to their first Paralympic Games this summer. Ray and Stivers took silver and bronze, respectively. Stivers, who’s just 16 years old, also won the youth final in the event.

For Ray, who was Team USA’s first alternate for the Tokyo Paralympics, get

“This weekend, I’m just looking to execute my races better and be more intentional,” Ray said. “I was able to race at the world series in Italy a couple of weeks ago and now here, getting this international experience, it lets us see where everyone is at. Heading into Tokyo, the goal was just to make the team, but my goals have changed and I don’t want to just make the Paris team, I want to podium.”  

Team USA’s Piper Sadowski (East Grand Rapids, Michigan) and Abby Kershaw (Pasadena, Maryland) repeated the 2-3 effort for the U.S. in the women’s 200-meter freestyle S1-5, S14 race. The teenagers both made their international debuts at the 2023 Parapan American Games last year in Santiago, Chile. In similar fashion Trevor Lukacsko (Bernardsville, New Jersey) and Lawrence Sapp (Waldorf, Maryland) finished with silver and bronze in the men’s 200-meter freestyle S1-5, S14.

Team USA swept the two relay finals, taking gold in both the mixed 4x50-meter freestyle 20 points and the mixed 4x100 freestyle 34 points. Paralympic silver medalist Leanne Smith (Salem, Massachusetts) combined with Paralympians Abbas Karimi (Fort Lauderdale, Florida) and Zach Shattuck (Mount Airy, Maryland) and Parapan Ams champion Megan Gioffreda (Towson, Maryland) for the 4x50-meter relay win, while Long, Jaffe, Natalie Sims (Edina, Minnesota) and Jamal Hill (Inglewood, California) beat out Canada in the 4x100-meter event.

Racing in Indianapolis resumes tomorrow with the second day of preliminary heats beginning at 9 a.m. EDT. All sessions of the event will be streamed live on the U.S. Paralympics Swimming Facebook page.

For media requests and photo inquiries, please contact Kristen Gowdy at Kristen.Gowdy@usopc.org.

Medalists – Day 1

Women’s 100m Freestyle S1-13

1. Morgan Stickney

2. Jessica Long

3. McKenzie Coan

Women’s 100m Freestyle S1-13 – Youth

1. Sara Vargas Blanco (COL)

2. Audrey Kim

3. Keegan Knott

Men’s 100m Freestyle S1-13

1. Nelson Crispin Corzo (COL)

2. Noah Jaffe

3. Sebastian Massabie (CAN)

Men’s 100m Freestyle S1-13 – Youth

1. Jesus Gutierrez Bermudez (MEX)

2. Owen McNear

3. Noah Busch

Women’s 50m Breaststroke SB1-3

1. Edith Miranda Herrera (MEX)

Men’s 50m Breaststroke SB1-3

1. Cristopher Tronco Sanchez (MEX)

2. Marcos Zarate Rodriguez (MEX)

3. Omar Osorio Sanchez (MEX)

Women’s 100m Breaststroke SB4-9, SB11-14

1. Olivia Chambers

2. Colleen Young

3. Elizabeth Marks

Women’s 100m Breaststroke SB4-9, SB11-14 – Youth

1. Ali Diehl (CAN)

2. Kanon Fukuda (JPN)

3. Mary Jibb (CAN)

Men’s 100m Breaststroke SB4-9, SB11-14

1. Nelson Crispin Corzo (COL)

2. Morgan Ray

3. Aidan Stivers

Men’s 100m Breaststroke SB4-9, SB11-14 – Youth

1. Aidan Stivers

2. Charlie Giammichele (CAN)

3. Aaron Thomas

Women’s 200-meter Freestyle S1-5, S14

1. America Maqueda Andrade (MEX)

2. Piper Sadowski

3. Abby Kershaw

Men’s 200-meter Freestyle S1-5, S14

1. Alberto Abarza Diaz (CHI)

2. Trevor Lukacsko

3. Lawrence Sapp

Mixed 4x50-meter Freestyle Relay

1. United States of America

Mixed 4x100-meter Freestyle Relay

1. United States of America