Paralympics: Records keep tumbling for Sophie Pascoe

Sophie Pascoe of New Zealand poses with her gold medal after winning the Women's 100m Butterfly S10 final. Photo / Getty

Sophie Pascoe can't stop breaking records.

The Christchurch Paralympic swimmer won her third gold medal of the Rio Games today, in the 100m butterfly in the S10 category.

She set a Paralympic record of 1min 04.37s in the heat, four seconds ahead of the field, then snapped up the gold in 1:02.65, only just missing her own world record of 1:02.60 set earlier this year.

Pascoe shares the top spot of 14 Paralympic medals with the versatile Eve Rimmer. However, Pascoe's victory yesterday was her ninth gold medal. Rimmer won eight.

The difference between the pair was Rimmer competed in a wheelchair, and had success in a range of athletic disciplines, ranging from javelin, through discus, modern pentathlon and archery.

Rio has been a Games to savour for the 23-year-old Pascoe, who lost the lower part of a leg in a lawnmowing accident when she was two. She was also an appropriate winner of New Zealand's 200th Paralympic medal earlier in the Games.

"It hasn't quite sunk in yet," Pascoe said when being told of her record tally of medals.

"I just go out there and give it everything. I challenge myself every day to take on the biggest challenge of all, taking on the world in the pool.

"That is what I did tonight. Now it is about focussing on the next one, the 100m freestyle (today)."

And she's not planning on packing her swimsuit away any time soon, either.

"There's more to come out of me after this meet."

Initially Pascoe sobbed tears of joy when told the significance of her medal. She recently lost her training partner and good friend Hayley Edmond, dedicating the 200th New Zealand medal to Edmond.

Rio 2016 performance manager, Malcolm Humm, said simply: "Sophie Pascoe - just exceptional.