Stickney, Ray, Smith, Chambers golden on Day Two of 2025 Para Swimming World Series
Four Team USA Paralympic medalists brought home gold medals to lead the Americans on the second day of racing at the 2025 Para Swimming World Series – USA at the IU Natatorium in Indianapolis. Paralympic champions Morgan Stickney (Cary, N.C.), Leanne Smith (Salem, Mass.) and Olivia Chambers (Little Rock, Ark.), as well as Paris Paralympic silver medalist Morgan Ray (St. Augustine, Fla.) all won their respective events as Team USA earned 15 medals on the penultimate day of competition.
Stickney returned to the pool for her signature 400-meter freestyle event after taking bronze in yesterday’s 100-meter freestyle yesterday to open her competition slate. The reigning Paralympic champion in the 400-meter freestyle S7, Stickney’s finals time of 4:55.58 gave her the win over Australian Lakeisha Patterson and U.S. teammate Ahalya Lettenberger (Glen Ellyn, Ill.), who went 2-3.
For Stickney, swimming with joy was key to her victory. Coming off her second Paralympic Games, she has faced health setbacks that have kept her out of the pool at times. To be back swimming, she said, is the ultimate reward.
“It’s so great to be here and to be representing Team USA,” she said. “It’s been a really hard fall, so just to be here, I’m in my happy place. There’s nowhere else I would rather be. I put no pressure on myself, I had no idea where my times would be. I just came into this wanting to have fun, and that’s exactly what I did.”
Ray, meanwhile, earned the gold medal in the men’s 100-meter breaststroke, his best event in which he took fourth in his Paralympic debut in Paris. The 22-year-old swam a 1:22.15 for the win. Fellow U.S. swimmer and Indiana native Aiden Stivers (Fishers, Ind.) earned his first medal of the weekend with a silver behind Ray.
Unlike many other Team USA swimmers, who took more time off after competing in Paris, Ray said he took just a six-week hiatus from the sport to mentally reset. He said the break helped him rediscover his passion for the sport, which he’s bringing into Indianapolis this weekend. Like Stickney, he said he’s focused on having fun and not putting pressure on his times, especially in year one of the Paralympic quads.
“Especially with [Paris] being my first Games, it was very mentally taxing,” he said. “I’ve re-found my love for the water and am just having so much fun here. I’m keeping a more holistic approach to the sport – and I’m glad I’m realizing this now at only 22 [years old] – but there’s so much more to the sport than just swimming. It’s the impact you can make on other lives too.”
Smith’s wins in the women’s 50-meter breaststroke SB4-9, 11-14 and the 50-meter backstroke S1-5 gave her her third and fourth event wins of the weekend. Smith had a massive opening day of racing, setting three S3 world records in the 50-meter, 100-meter and 200-meter freestyle.
The reigning S13 Paralympic medalist in the 100-meter breaststroke, Chambers won the event with a time of 1:18.24. She also placed sixth in the 400-meter freestyle.
Several younger Team USA athletes had stellar performances on day two in Indiana, headlined by Stivers’ silver and Koehn Boyd’s (Ramsey, Minn.) bronze in the men’s 400-meter freestyle. Boyd also took youth gold in the men’s 100-meter breaststroke, leading a Team USA sweep that also included Noah Busch (Owings, Md.) and Lucas Culotta (Brecksville, Ohio). Also bringing home youth podiums for Team USA were national team member Cara Pennington (Elkton, Md.) and Casey Freeman (Chapel Hill, N.C.), who took youth silver and bronze in the women’s 400-meter freestyle, and national team member Kenley Teller (Haymarket, Va.), who took youth bronze in the women’s 100-meter breaststroke alongside Pennington, who earned her second youth silver of the evening in the event.
Medalists – Day 2
Men’s 400-meter Freestyle S6-14
1. Simone Barlaam (ITA)
2. Talisson Glock (BRA)
3. Koehn Boyd (USA)
Women’s 400-meter Freestyle S6-14
1. Morgan Stickney (USA)
2. Lakeisha Patterson (AUS)
3. Ahalya Lettenberger (USA)
Women’s 400-meter Freestyle S6-14 – Youth
1. Victoria Belando Nicholson (AUS)
2. Cara Pennington (USA)
3. Casey Freeman (USA)
Men’s 50-meter Backstroke S1-5
1. Gabriel Dos Santos Araujo (BRA)
Women’s 50-meter Backstroke S1-5
1. Leanne Smith (USA)
2. Milaini Alvico Araujo (BRA)
3. Larissa Rodrigues (BRA)
Men’s 100-meter Breaststroke SB4-9, 11-14
1. Morgan Ray (USA)
2. Aiden Stivers (USA)
3. Ricky Betar (AUS)
Men’s 100-meter Breaststroke SB4-9, 11-14 – Youth
1. Koehn Boyd (USA)
2. Noah Busch (USA)
3. Lucas Culotta (USA)
Women’s 100-meter Breaststroke SB4-9, 11-14
1. Olivia Chambers (USA)
2. Ruby Storm (AUS)
3. Ali Diehl (CAN)
Women’s 100-meter Breaststroke SB4-9, 11-14 – Youth
1. Ali Diehl (CAN)
2. Cara Pennington (USA)
3. Kenley Teller (USA)
Women’s 50-meter Breaststroke SB4-9, 11-14
1. Leanne Smith (USA).
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