Ukrainian Dmytro Vynohradets smashed the former 200m freestyle men's S3 world record by a whopping 14.08 sec, clocking 3 min 22.98 sec - to thunderous applause by a packed Water Cube audience which cheered on all three medal winners.

Chinese swimmers Li Hanhua and Du Jianping won silver and bronze.

Britain's Sascha Kindred competes in the men's 100m breaststroke SB7 heats yesterday. He later won the gold breaking the world record. [Agencies]

Li said: "Although it is a pity that I lost the gold medal, I have swum with my best result. Everyone of us has done well today."

The 16 gold medals up for grabs on the third day of in the pool were divided among nine countries, with Spain and Russia each taking three.

Spanish swimmer Maria Teresa Perales won gold in the women's 200m freestyle S5, after leaving silver medalist Inbal Pezaro of Israel 2.04 sec behind.

"I used to swim sprints in the past, and this gold is a reward for all my efforts in this event," said Perales.

Her compatriot Richard Oribe, who won gold in the same event for the S4 class, said he was happy to regain the gold he lost in the Athens.

In the men's S5 class, Brazilian Daniel Dias continued to write his legend by securing his third gold of the Games, also setting a new world record of 2 min 32.32 sec.

The Chinese swimming squad experienced a gold medal drought yesterday, finishing with four silver and three bronze at the Water Cube.

In the women's 100m backstroke S6, Jiang Fuying's Dutch and British rivals forced her to settle for bronze.

"My coach thought that I could bring him a silver, but I failed to live up to his expectation," said sad 20-year-old.

"I will try my best in my main event, the 50m butterfly, on Saturday."