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Teenagers Iona Winnifrith and William Ellard both took gold for Britain on the opening day of the Para-swimming European Open Championships in Madeira.<\/b><\/p>\n
Winnifrith, who only turned 13 earlier this month, won the SM7 200m individual medley on her British debut.<\/p>\n
Ellard, 18, a silver medallist at last year’s Worlds, triumphed in the men’s S14 200m freestyle.<\/p>\n
There was a silver for another teenage debutant, Olivia Newman-Baronius, in the women’s S14 200m freestyle.<\/p>\n
The event, which is the last major international test before Paris, is also open to non-European swimmers.<\/p>\n
Winnifrith, who went under the SB7 100m breaststroke qualifying time for the Paris Paralympics at the Aquatics GB Swimming Championships earlier this month, was second at halfway behind Ukraine’s Veronika Korzhova.<\/p>\n
But she put in a storming breaststroke leg, coming from more than seven seconds back to lead by two and a half seconds with the freestyle leg remaining, and she maintained her advantage to win in three minutes 9.76 seconds – with Korzhova clocking 3:10.24.<\/p>\n
“I wasn’t expecting European champion in this event, my main event is breaststroke, it’s my first ever Europeans, so really really happy,” Winnifrith said.<\/p>\n
Ellard had equalled the world record of 1:52.40 at the Aquatics GB Championship and although he looked on course to beat that time in Madeira, he faded slightly late on to clock 1:52.62 to finish well clear of Ukraine’s Dmytro Vanzenko (1:54.41).<\/p>\n
Newman-Baronius was involved in a great tussle with Russian Paralympic champion Valeriia Shabalina, who is competing as a Neutral Paralympic Athlete.<\/p>\n
Shabalina, who has also won European and world titles in the event, clocked 2:08.91, with the 17-year-old Briton just 0.3 seconds back.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n