Wednesday, August 7, 2013

Swimmer Matthew Klotz of the United States has broken his second backstroke world record in Sofia, Bulgaria during the 2013 Deaflympics.

The high school senior had previously in the 2013 Deaflympics broken the 100 metre backstroke record, continuing his streak by breaking the record for the same stroke in the 200 metre event. The latter record, previously held by South Africa, Klotz broke twice, in both the preliminaries and the finals, with his final time of 2:07.43 breaking the original record by over a second. Klotz also set a record leadoff time in the 4 X 100 medley relay.

“It was pretty exciting because I kept getting faster and faster”, said Klotz after his first record-breaking event, in a media release. “It was a close race — two Japanese swimmers finished right behind me”. Klotz also took home bronze in the 400 metre individual medley, came fourth in the 400 metre freestyle, fifth in the 50 metre backstroke, and eighth in the 200 metre freestyle.

The 17-year-old was to fly home to Cameron Park, California on Monday. He holds seven US swimming records.