Firth breaks Paralympic record in day ten heats

Bethany Firth and Jessica-Jane Applegate lowered the Paralympic record on the final day of the Rio 2016 Paralympic Games.

Both swimmers were competing in the Women’s S14 200m Individual Medley, Applegate in heat one and Firth in heat two.

Applegate was first to lower the Paralympic record. The UAE Norwich swimmer touched in 2:30.11 to qualify fastest going into tonight’s final. Then, just a few moments later, Newcastle Swim Team’s Firth smashed the record again.

Just minutes later another @ParalympicsGB swimmer breaks the Women’s SM14 200m #PARALYMPICS RECORD again! pic.twitter.com/K7cVVG0xmw

— British Swimming (@britishswimming) September 17, 2016

Firth already has two gold medals under her belt at these Paralympic Games and is a dominant force in the GB squad. She took a further six seconds from the record set by Applegate in the first heat. The 20-year-old touched in 1:23.78 to qualify fastest overall.

Tom Hamer of City of Manchester Aquatics also had a great swim in the S14 200m IM. The 18-year-old Paralympic debutant won heat two, and qualified third fastest overall. Hamer touched in 2:16.28.

• Confused about swimming classification? Check out the Lexi decoder video

Robinson and Simmonds make S6 final

Ellie Simmonds and Ellie Robinson qualified comfortably for the Women’s S6 100m Freestyle final.

Robinson was the first to the wall in heat one, beating the USA’s Tiffany Thomas Kane by just under a second. The 50m Butterfly champion from Northampton touched in 1:16.76 to qualify fourth fastest.

Simmonds was slightly faster than Robinson, swimming in heat three. The Boldemere SC swimmer was second to the wall, beaten by Ukraine’s Yelyzaveta Mereshko who swam a Paralympic record to win the final heat. Simmonds touched in 1:16.39 to qualify third fastest overall.

Hynd leaves the field in his wake in 200m IM

Ollie Hynd dominated the Men’s SM8 200m Individual Medley, showing just why he is the reigning Paralympic champion in this event. The Nova Centurion swimmer was almost three seconds ahead of the rest of the field, touching in 2:25.48.

In the Women’s heats for this event, Stephanie Millward eased through into the final after winning her heat by almost seven seconds. Millward, who already has a gold medal in the S8 100m Back, looks to be a real challenger for Jessica Long of the USA. The Corsham ASC swimmer touched 2:45.91, the second fastest time overall.

Russell dominates 50m Freestyle in day ten heats

Hannah Russell looked untouchable as she sailed through into the Women’s S12 50m Freestyle final.

The S12 classification swimmer had a great reaction time off the blocks and she stormed her way to the finish line in a time of 27.79. The Woking SC swimmer looked as though she eased off towards the end of the sprint, and still finished over a second faster than any other competitor.

Scotland’s Andy Mullen and Abby Kane also qualified for their respective finals for ParalympicsGB. Mullen was sixth fastest overall in the Men’s S5 100m Free, touching 1:19.58. Kane swam a personal best and Paralympic record time in the Women’s S13 100m Backstroke to bag lane four, clocking 1:09.09.

• View full results from day 10 swimming heats at the Rio 2016 Paralympic Games