Salisbury Swimmer Wins Bronze in Paralympics

Salisbury Township resident Noga Nir-Kistler won a bronze medal in the 100-meter breaststroke Wednesday at the 2012 London Paralympic Games.

Nir-Kistler, 33, finished with a time of 1:50.76.

Kirsten Bruhn of Germany won gold and established a new world record with a time of 1:35.50. Lingling Song of China earned a silver medal with a time of 1:47.15.

Nir-Kistler, a Whitehall High School graduate, told an interviewer for US Paralympics that she used the excitement of the crowd to spur her to the medal stand.

"You can feel, it's like electricity running through you. It's 18,000 people cheering for you," she said. "I use it in every race and so far it's been working."

The Paralympic Games are being held in the same venues as the 2012 summer Olympic Games.

Nir-Kistler also finished sixth in the 50-meter freestyle at the games. She will compete in the the 100-meter freestyle on Friday and the 50-meter butterfly on Saturday, according to NBC10 Philadelphia.

Nir-Kistler, who was born in Israel, graduated from Whitehall High School. She suffers from RSD, or reflex sympathetic dystrophy, a debilitating nerve disease and uses a wheelchair, according to the Morning Call.

Nir-Kistler was also on the U.S. Paralympic Table Tennis Team in the 2008 Paralympic Games in Beijing, China, according to the Team USA website.

She won silver in singles and silver in team table tennis at the 2007 Parapan American Games.