Paraswimming: Former sports editor helps earn five Rio spots

Cameron Leslie receives his silver medal after the men's SM4 150m individual medley in Glasgow. Photo / Supplied

Former Northern Advocate sports editor Cameron Leslie's silver at the recent International Paralympic Committee (IPC) world championships in Glasgow has helped propel the New Zealand team towards being a strong force at next year's Rio Paralympic Games.

The team of eight was in stunning form across the six-day IPC Swimming World Championships, wrapping up the event ranked first in the world by capita for medals won, thus securing five Rio 2016 slots for the nation and bringing home a total of 16 medals.

Despite placing 7th in the men's 50m backstroke S5 and 8th in the men's 50m breaststroke SB3, Leslie's second place in the the men's SM4 150m individual medley, in a time of 2m 26.55s, helped open up a spot for the New Zealand team at the Rio games - the individual medley being an event he has dominated since the Beijing 2008 Paralympic Games.

Mary Fisher and Sophie Pascoe were the biggest contributors to the medal haul with a total of 11 medals between them, including six gold, three silver and two bronze.

Nikita Howarth won two gold medals while Rebecca Dubber and Leslie's personal best times secured three silver medals between them.

The five spots have been secured for New Zealand as a nation only, so swimmers still need to compete for the five-strong Paralympic team to be announced next April. Based on the qualifying outline, para-swimmers who earn a gold or a silver medal at the IPC World Championships can earn one qualification slot for their country.

Those slots are allocated to the para-swimmer's nation, not the swimmer themselves.

Each para-swimmer can only earn their nation one slot, regardless of how many gold or silver medals they won at the Glasgow event.