Northland's Cameron Leslie was all smiles after he broke a 15-year-old world record in the S4 50-metre freestyle over the weekend. Photo / Supplied
Northland's Cameron Leslie was all smiles after he broke a 15-year-old world record in the S4 50-metre freestyle over the weekend. Photo / Supplied
Northland para athletes Cameron Leslie and Emma Foy are world champions in their respective codes after a fantastic weekend of results for the pair.
Competing in the Para Swimming World Championships in London on Friday (London time), Leslie produced an incredible performance to set a new world record and claim the gold medal in the men's S4 50-metre freestyle.
Having qualified in second place, just behind rival Takayuki Suzuki from Japan, the two went stroke for stroke for two thirds of the final race before the Northland swimmer edged ahead to break the record which has stood since 2004.
Leslie, seen here competing in the men's 200m freestyle S4 heats, has been in a rich vein of form over the last few days, earning two gold medals. Photo / Getty Images
Leslie stopped the clock in 37.14 seconds, just under half a second ahead of Suzuki and over one and a half seconds faster than his swim in the heat.
"It was a weird one, it was similar to the backstroke [the day before]," Leslie said.
"I was trying to hold my rating higher for longer, so I was just focused on being in the water and getting good purchase from each stroke.
"I didn't know what the world record was before that race, which was similar to Beijing when I broke the world record in the IM, I had no idea I broke it, I was just chasing a personal best."
Leslie said he also wasn't too aware of whether he'd managed to get ahead of the silver medallist.
"I could sort of see splashes next to me, but I wasn't pausing for long enough to see where [Suzuki] was.
"It's been the story of our careers, Suzuki and I have always been neck and neck pretty much every race that we've done."
In the UCI Para Cycling Road World Championships in the Netherlands, Foy and her sighted pilot Hannah van Kampen were crowned world champions after a well-executed ride in the women's BV1 road race on Saturday.
Northland's Emma Foy (right) and teammate Hannah van Kampen showed their class to come away world champions. Photo / Allan McKenzie - SWpix.com
The duo controlled the 81.4-kilometre race through tight technical corners and the unfamiliar stretches of cobbles to cross the line in a photo finish with the pair from Ireland, in two hours, seven minutes and 39 seconds.
"With lots of corners and quite narrow roads we knew position was going to be quite important," Foy said.
"Then there was a long kind of out and back bit so we kind of knew there would be attacks in parts of that. And that's exactly what happened, so we just needed to work to our advantages and try and predict what other bikes might do."
Van Kampen said their success came down to proper race management and staying ahead of the field.
"Throughout the race we knew we couldn't let certain bikes go up the road, so it was a case of being on to it and being at the front, being aware all day," she said.
"But the most important part was when it came down to the sprint and making sure we were in the right position but also that we were able to deliver the power in that final straight to come around and take it."
The Foy/van Kampen partnership (left) proved too strong for their Irish competitors. Photo / Allan McKenzie - SWpix.com
