A trio of golds were claimed by swimmers from the host nation at the Ponds Forge International Sports Centre today.

Leading the field in women’s 100 metres freestyle was Hannah Russell, who won two golds at the Rio 2016 Paralympic Games, as the S12 athlete finished ahead of team-mate Stephanie Millward while another S8  Jessica Long of the United States came third.

Russell, who falls in the S12 category, won the final in a time of 59.77sec, a time which left her delighted.

“I’m really pleased with that race, going under the one minute mark at this time of the season, you can’t really ask for much better than that.

“It’s fantastic to have international competition on home soil and it’s the first time Para swimming has had a World Series event.

“Especially for me, there aren’t that many visually impaired swimmers in Great Britain, so to be able to race against rivals at this point in the season is great.”

In the morning’s heats, Britain’s Thomas Hammer set an S14 European record of 53.75 in the men’s 100m freestyle.

However, when the final came round, his compatriot Lewis White took gold with a S9 national record of 57.18.

Uzbekistan’s Muzaffar Tursunkhujaev, in the S13 category, came second while White’s team-mate Stephen Clegg, S12, came third.

The podium places in the men’s 100m breaststroke were all taken by S14 swimmers, with Britain’s Connor Morrison beating colleague Scott Quin to gold while Hong Kong’s Wa Kit Choi took bronze.

World Series leader and four-time Paralympic gold medallist Sarah Louise Rung of Norway missed out on the women’s 100m freestyle podium, but the SB4 athlete did pull off a victory in the 100m breaststroke.

British teenager Maisie Summers-Newton, SB6, was second and Rio Paralympic SB13 champions Fotimakhan Amilova of Uzbekistan came third.

Japan’s Yuki Omukai, SB2, won the women’s 50m breaststroke while Denmark’s Jonas Larsen claimed victory in the men’s event.

Action continues in Sheffield until Sunday (April 30).