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Covenanter Elizabeth Stone Competes at Paralympics
ATHENS, GREECE (September 21, 2004) - Elizabeth Stone of First Evangelical
Covenant Church in Grand Rapids, Michigan, competed in the 100 meter
butterfly in the S9 category at Monday's swimming competition at the
2004 Paralympics. Stone is one of 3,846 athletes from 136 countries
competing at the Paralympics Games, which run through September 28.
Stone earned a spot on the U.S. Paralympics swimming team by qualifying
at the U.S. Paralympics Swimming Trials April 22-24. She swam her heat
in 1 minute, 27.96 seconds on Monday. A swimmer in her heat, Natalie du
Toit of Russia set a world record with a time of 1:07.69 and won the
gold medal.
A member of the Rockford, Michigan, Riptide Swim Club, Stone will also
swim in the 100-meter backstroke in Athens. The 14-year-old attends West
Side Christian School in Grand Rapids. She qualified by finishing third
in the U.S. trials, breaking the 1:25
standard with a 1:24.51 clocking.
Stone was born with Proximal Femoral Focal Deficiency - her femur is
extremely short - and she had four surgeries to correct the situation.
She later had her foot amputated, according to her mother, Linda. This
disability qualifies her as a S9 swimmer (those with
above-knee or below-elbow amputations are also in that category).
During the summer at the club level, Stone swims with able-bodied teens
in age-group competitions and competes favorably in most events. At the
recent swim trials, she placed second in the 1,100 meter backstroke to
qualify for Athens in that event as well.
More about the Paralympics can be found on the Internet at
www.paralympic.org (the official site), www.paralympics.com. Reports
from the Athens games can also be found at www.athens2004.com
Copyright © 2008 The Evangelical Covenant Church. |
