Whiston wows with second world record on the final day in London

It was two world records in two days for Brock Whiston, who smashed her own global best by over half a second to add SB8 100m breaststroke gold to her tally in the final session of the World Para Swimming Championships.

The 22-year-old had wowed the London crowd with a remarkable comeback swim to claim the S8 200m medley title earlier in the meet, and questions were asked whether she could handle the newfound pressure at her first major championships.

But Whiston showed no signs of mercy and led the race from the start, building a substantial advantage by the end of the first length which she completed in just 34.73 secs.

Her dominance continued to grow in the last 50 metres, and she touched home in 1:13.83 to better the previous best time she had posted in Berlin earlier this summer.

Amazingly, Whiston wasn’t wholly happy with her performance, and after picking up her second individual gold medal of the meet, insisted she had hoped to go even quicker.

“I’m a little bit disappointed,” she said. “I know that sounds a bit silly, but I always want to go faster.

“This was my third day of racing, so I’m looking forward to having a week out of the pool and seeing friends and family before cracking on with the Road to Tokyo.”

Immediately after Whiston’s race, it was Reece Dunn’s time to shine as he claimed his second individual gold of the competition with a world record of his own in the S14 100m butterfly.

Previous holder Dai Tokairin from Japan posed a threat to the 23-year-old, but Dunn utilised his power from the start and maintained a comfortable lead to finish in 54:46 secs, ahead of American Lawrence Sapp and Tokairin in second and third respectively.

“It was amazing,” said the Plymouth star. “I felt quite good going in and I knew I was on to a good time.

“That was my best performance of the week. I’ve waited three and a half years for a sub-55 second performance and I’m delighted to have done that for the first time since Olympic trials.

“I’ve no idea how it came, but I’m massively motivated and wearing a GB cap means a lot to me every time I get the chance to do it.”

Whiston returned to the pool in the last event of the Championships, helping GB on the way to women’s 4x100m freestyle relay gold alongside Stephanie Millward, Toni Shaw and Alice Tai.

The quartet set a blistering time of 4:23.86 to finish ahead of the United States by the faintest of margins, with Tai producing a remarkable final leg to claim her seventh win of the competition.

Elsewhere, Tully Kearney made it three back-to-back freestyle gold medals, adding S5 100m freestyle glory to wins in the 50m and 200m events earlier in the meet.

Joining the 22-year-old on the podium was Suzanna Hext, who bagged a brilliant bronze on her international debut.

And there was another double British podium in the SB6 100m breaststroke, with Maisie Summers-Newton taking silver for her third medal of the championships, with Ellie Simmonds picking up her second bronze.

Jessica-Jane Applegate saw her world record beaten by Valeriia Shabalina in the S14 100m butterfly, with the 23-year-old finishing 0.58s behind to take silver.