Australian swimming great Brenden Hall has extended his Paralympic dominance, easily defending his crown in the men's S9 400m freestyle.
Having dominated the event for the last seven years on the international stage, the 23-year-old led all the way in his first race of the Rio Games and is already looking to Tokyo 2020.
The Queenslander won by three body lengths in a time of four minutes 12.73 seconds - just outside his own world record.
"I'm pretty stoked to be able to hold onto my title for another four years," Hall said.
"To know that I can still lead the pack and keep pushing further and further, as I'm getting older, makes me really happy and I just want to see how much faster I can get in the next four years."
It was a strong night for Aussies in the pool, with Ellie Cole scoring a surprise silver in her least favourite event - the women's S9 400m freestyle.
The 2012 London gold medallist entered the race as a last-minute decision to warm up for her preferred races that begin from day five.
But Cole surprised herself, scoring her 10th Paralympic medal and missing the top of the podium by a devastating 0.02 seconds.
She said pushing through the pain barrier during the distance event was difficult.
"I don't know how Mack Horton actually enjoys that race," she said.
"I don't think I'll be swimming too many 400s in the near future. I like my sprint events."
The third medal of the night came from one of the youngest athletes on the Aussie team, Tiffany Thomas Kane.
The 14-year-old bounced back from the disappointment of a disqualification the previous night by clinching bronze in the S6 50m butterfly final.
