NDP's Meyers swims to 4th gold, another record
Notre Dame Prep junior Becca Meyers finished off a stellar week at the World Deaf Swimming Championships in Coimbra, Portugal by winning her fourth gold medal and setting another meet record Saturday.
Meyers, who was born deaf, won all three individual events she entered in the third annual championships -- the 200-meter, 400-meter and 800-meter freestyle races -- and she twice lowered world championship records in both the 400 and the 800.
She was also part of the United States' 800-meter freestyle team that set an overall deaf world record.
In the seventh and final day of competition Saturday, Meyers defeated Anna Tovsta, the Ukranian who holds the overall deaf world record, to win the 400 freestyle in 4 minutes, 31.70 seconds. That time lowered the championship meet mark Meyers had set with her 400 split in Thursday's 800-meter race. Tovsta, who set her overall record of 4:27.82 two years ago, finished in 4:36.41.
Earlier in the meet, Meyers set championship records for the 800 freestyle in the qualifying heat and in the final, cutting more than 15 seconds off that mark by finishing in 9:16.22 in the final. On Friday, she swam the anchor leg of the 800 freestyle relay to finish in 8:49.55, as she, Peggy Liang, Kristin Ates and Samantha Elam edged the previous world record of 8.50.09 set two years ago by Russia.
Meyers -- who helped NDP win the IAAM A Conference championship earlier this year and also swims for Loyola Blakefield Aquatics -- also won a bronze medal two years ago at the Deaflympics in Taiwan.
