Three trebles for British para swimmers on a super Saturday

Alice Tai and Hannah Russell claimed their third golds of the Para Swimming European Championships on an incredible penultimate day in the pool in Dublin.

With a total of nine British medals from a possible 11 – including six golds – it was a night to remember.

Having claimed first-places finishes in the 100m S8 freestyle and backstroke, Tai put in another dominant display in the 100m S8 butterfly final to win her third gold in as many days.

Russell also clinched her third top-spot of the Championships, winning the 100m S12 freestyle to follow her 50m S12 freestyle and 100m S8 backstroke victories earlier in the week.

The last treble was a British one, two, three in the 100m S14 butterfly, with Jessica-Jane Applegate smashing the world record to clinch gold, Bethany Firth close behind with silver and Louise Fiddes touching third for bronze.

Another stunning result came in the 400m S9 freestyle, as 15-year-old Toni Shaw beat Paralympic champion Nuria Marques Soto to win gold – her fifth medal – in a time of 4m42.43s, after the Spaniard had pipped her to the post on Friday in the 100m freestyle.

Tully Kearney opened the flood of medals early on in the evening, seeing off Italian Monica Boggioni to claim 100m S5 freestyle gold, before Ellie Robinson doubled Saturday’s medal count with a gold in the 50m S6 butterfly 15 minutes later.

It wasn’t just a night for the women either, as Lewis White clinched silver in the 400m S9 freestyle final, having just missed out on a medal in the men’s 200m SM9 individual medley on Friday.

Stephen Clegg got in on the act too, snatching the final place on the podium in the 100m S12 freestyle contest – his second bronze of the Championships.