Pascoe and Simmonds make splash on Day 3

“I know I've got more left in my tank for tonight."

New Zealand’s Sarah Pascoe and Great Britain’s Ellie Simmonds stole the headlines in the morning session of Day 3 swimming, as they breezed through their heats with two dazzling performances.

With 31 Paralympic records and 25 world records already broken before the start of proceedings, day 3 qualifying had a lot to live up to.

But it certainly did not disappoint as the records tally quickly rose to 40 Paralympic records, and 34 world records.

Pascoe sparkled in the water, as she glided to a new world record in the women’s 100m butterfly S10 with a world-record time of 1:04.97.

However, the triple gold medallist from Beijing reckons she can improve even further come in the evening’s final

“That was a really comfortable race. I didn't expect to go under my time. It felt really comfortable, really cruising,” she said.

“I know I've got more left in my tank for tonight."

Noise levels grew astronomically from the strong home crowd when Simmonds dashed to a new Paralympic record in the women’s 400m freestyle S6.

The record breaking didn’t stop there, as Bozun Yang stormed to a new world record in the men’s 50m freestyle S11, with Cecilia Camellini doing the same in the women’s alternative.

Dimitry Grigorev of Russia powered to a new European record in the men’s 100m butterfly S10.

Simmonds soon entered the fray to set a new Paralympic record of 5:24.64, with rival Victoria Arlen of USA coming in second to reach the final.

Matthew Cowdrey qualified third in the men’s 100m breaststroke SB8 behind world-record holder Andriy Kalyna of Ukraine and Maurice Deelen of the Netherlands.

And Brazilian reigning champion Daniel Dias did not disappoint either, as he qualified powerfully in the men’s 200m freestyle SB5.

The on-going rivalry between Sarah Louise Rung and Teresa Perales continued in the women’s 200m freestyle SB5, with the former coming out on top qualifying fastest in 2:56:22.

China’s Yang, who won silver yesterday, was the next to topple another world record as he cruised to 25:33 in the men’s 50m freestyle S11, with Camellini setting 31:15 in the women’s.

Australia have enjoyed a successful start in the pool, and Blake Cochrane continued this trend with a new Paralympic record of 1:20:76.

And finally, Jessica Long who has already scooped two golds at this games, qualified for the final of the women’s 100m breaststroke SB7 final in a new Paralympic record time of 1:29:79.

Elsewhere, there were good qualifying victories for Ireland’s Darragh McDonald in the men’s 400m freestyle S6 heats, and Great Britain’s Claire Cashmore in the women’s 100m breaststroke SB8.

Belarus’ Ikar Boki also qualified strongly in the men’s 50m freestyle S13, as too did USA’s Kelley Becherer in the women’s alternative.