Herefordshire swimmers congratulated on medal success

Herefordshire-based swimmers Sascha Kindred and Nyree Lewis have been congratulated by the county's civic leaders after their medal success at the Paralympic Games in Beijing.

Sascha Kindred, 30, won Britain's first swimming gold in the 200m individual relay SM6 and his fifth in total. He also smashed the world record, finishing in two minutes 42.29, when he swam in the Water Cube on Monday.

Sascha claimed his second gold in the 100m breaststroke SB7, again in a world record time of 1 minute 22.18.

Nyree Lewis, 27, took silver in the women's 100m backstroke and smashed her Paralympic record with a time on one minute 30.34 seconds during qualifying.

Councillor Adrian Blackshaw, Herefordshire Council's cabinet member for community services and economic development, said: "I would like to congratulate these two medallists who have made Herefordshire proud.

"Both of these swimmers train at the Herefordshire Council funded Leominster Leisure Pool and the Beijing success shows the county has some world class sporting facilities.

"We are also hosting the World Blind Football Championships from August 13 to 23 in 2010, the first time they have been hosted in the UK.

"We have plenty more Herefordshire athletes still to compete at the Games, which end on September 18, and I'm sure everyone in the county will join me in cheering them on," he added.