Rio 2016 Paralympics: Sascha Kindred must wait on place in British team

Sascha Kindred, who was appointed an OBE in 2009, has competed at five Paralympic Games

Sascha Kindred must wait to see if he will compete at a sixth Paralympics after failing to make the qualifying standard on the final day of the British Para-Swimming trials.

The 38-year-old missed out on the time he needed in the heats and final of the SM6 200m individual medley.

"It's out of my hands," said Kindred, who made his GB debut in 1994.

A total of 25 swimmers met the required standard over five days of competition, with the team to be named next month.

Paralympic champion Josef Craig was the last to join the list, setting a new British record in the S8 50m freestyle in the last session.

Former world champion Amy Marren and S9 50m freestyle pair Matt Wylie and Ryan Crouch achieved their required times earlier on Wednesday.

Kindred, who needed to swim two minutes 42.65 seconds to make the qualifying standard, clocked 2:42.88 in the heats and 2:43.20 in the final.

"That's the fastest time in the world so far this year," said the six-time Paralympic champion. "I felt pressure knowing my main event was on the last day and unfortunately it wasn't to be."

Craig rises to the occasion

As a 15-year-old, Josef Craig won Paralympic gold at the London Games in 2012

There was also pressure on Craig, who won gold in the S7 400m freestyle in London but was reclassified in 2014 into the S8 category for less-impaired swimmers.

Having missed out on a place at last year's World Championships, the 19-year-old showed great determination to clock 27.27 seconds, beating the 27.45 he needed.

"That swim is probably of greater importance to me than the one which won me gold in London," he said.

"I knew I had that sort of swim in the bag so it was fantastic to go and do it and shows I am still in the game."

National performance director Chris Furber believes the displays in Glasgow put the GB in a strong position before both the European Championships, which start on Monday in Madeira, and the Rio Paralympics.

"We set the qualifying standards high because we wanted a quality team in Rio," he said.

"We are delighted to have 25 swimmers achieve qualification times, plus a few others within 2% of the time, so we will have a strong team at the Paralympics."