Procter proud of final flourish

BEN Procter is pictured after the men's 200m freestyle S14 final at the Aquatics Centre in London.

Paralympics:

BEN Procter spoke of his pride after the Oldham swimmer reached two finals for Great Britain in the London 2012 Paralympics.

The 22-year-old honorary member of Saddleworth Swimming Club, who has learning difficulties, qualified as seventh fastest in the 100 metres backstroke heats before earning a superb fifth-place finish in the final.

He was neck-and-neck with team-mate and friend Daniel Pepper in the heats of the 200m freestyle 48 hours later, leading until the last stretch only to settle for second spot, 200th of a second shy of Pepper in 2:01.99 — Ben's personal best time.

And last night's final saw Ben take eighth position, one place behind Pepper.

Winner Jon Margeir Sverrisson became the first man to break two minutes to win the gold medal.

Afterwards he said: “I am very proud to have represented Great Britain and to be part of the team.

“Roll on the Olympic Games in Rio in 2016.”

Elsewhere, Oldham-educated Sascha Kindred finished fourth in the 100m S7 breaststroke.




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