Maisie Summers-Newton says she had to overcome “a lot of self doubt” on making her return to the Paralympic pool in Paris. Watching on you would not have known it, however, as the 22-year-old destroyed the field to retain her Paralympic title in the women’s SM6 200m individual medley on Friday night.
A breakout British star of the Tokyo Games, where she won two golds and set a Paralympic record in the IM (she went on to set the world record this year), Summers-Newton has felt the weight of expectation and the eyes of the crowd here. Nerves had left her “pooing her pants” she said, but after racing neck and neck with the American Ellie Marks for 100m, an imperious breaststroke section took her clear and she finished in a time of 2min 56.9sec, some 5.6sec clear of her rival.
