Alice Tai was in shock and Rebecca Redfern called it "surreal" as the pair delivered another two swimming gold medals for ParalympicsGB in Paris - after 13-year-old Iona Winnifrith ensured she will be the team's youngest medallist in Paris.
Thirteen-year-old Winnifrith became the youngest British Paralympic swimming medallist since Abby Kane eight years ago as she surged to silver in the Women's SB7 100m Breaststroke, before Redfern secured the first Paralympic title of her career in the SB13 100m Breaststroke, and Tai then sprinted to her second gold of the Games - and fourth medal in Paris - with an outstanding victory in the S8 50m Freestyle.
Redfern's breaststroke triumph followed on from silvers in the same event in both Rio and Tokyo - and her ambition was clear from the off, moving into the lead by around 30m and building a sizeable advantage at the turn. While USA competitor Olivia Chambers clawed back some ground off the wall and in the opening strokes of the second lap, Rebecca's superior stroke rate soon saw her building a lead again - and she held that all the way to the finish, to clinch a glorious gold in front of a raucous crowd that included her young son, Patrick.
"It feels really surreal. I was half-expecting somebody to come out of lane one and beat me! A gold medal is amazing, it's crazy. Two silvers in my first two Paralympics and now a gold, it means a lot," she said when reflecting on the moment.
"We've had a hell of a journey to get here. No-one could've predicted me being here and to be standing on top of the podium, it's amazing. I love all aspects of my life - my teaching, my swimming and obviously my son and my family. I do what I do because I enjoy it, and it's so much fun racing with those girls.
"This crowd has been amazing, they've really spurred me on. I couldn't hear them but I knew they were cheering, and I know my family is somewhere here, so to know they here is really special."
Rebecca's medal ceremony would not be the only one on the night to feature the British national anthem, as the in-form Alice Tai delivered in a thrilling splash-and-dash contest.
Taking lane four as the fastest seed into the Women's S8 50m Freestyle final, Tai - who has seen the effectiveness of her dive impacted since her amputation - had ground to make up after 15m, but was quickly level with the three athletes in the lanes above her as her pacey stroke rate came into play.
![Alice Tai shock S8 50m Free GOLD Paris 2024](https://www.aquaticsgb.com/media/images/GettyImages-2170404461.width-800.jpg)
By 35m, she was ahead, and the lead grew with every single stroke, keeping Brazilian Cecilia Jeronimo de Araujo at bay to the finish to dip under 30 seconds, her winning time of 29.91 a post-amputation personal best. And it was the time rather than the result itself that genuinely seemed to take Tai by surprise.
"I knew it was going to be close going in. I thought maybe someone would duck under 30s - I didn't think it'd be me! That was 0.6s off my post-amputation PB, that's a huge PB. I can't believe it, I'm still processing it! The 50m Freestyle is always such a close race, I could see her next to me and I was thinking, 'just a little bit more, just a little bit further!' I think I'm more shocked that I went sub-30s, what?!" she said.
"It [four medals from four events] is more than I expected. Every single swim has been a PB since my amputation, I'm getting so close to my old times. The 50m Free is the hardest, my dive has been pretty affected since the amputation so I didn't think I'd be getting back down to sub-30 for another year or so, it's still pretty new and I'm figuring it out.
"I couldn't be happier with the outcome. I've got the full set, and an extra gold, which is pretty cool - and another race to go. I'm going to have a day off tomorrow!"
Opening up the night for ParalympicsGB was a record-breaking moment for the class of 2024. Iona Winnifrith had not even been born when Ellie Simmonds won two gold medals at Beijing 2008 - but 16 years on, 13-year-old Iona put together a brilliant swim in the SB7 100m Breaststroke, moving clear of the chasing pack to hold second place all the way and secure a silver medal that ensures the youngest athlete on the entire ParalympicsGB team will return home with silverware to her name.
"It's very cool. I was really excited going into the race and I'm really happy. I knew I just needed to fight and power off from the start. I really wanted that gold, but I'm year 13 years old, you can't have everything - I'm super, super happy with that performance, I'm really proud," said the Tonbridge swimmer.
![Iona Winnifrith podium shot SB7 100m Breaststroke Paris 2024](https://www.aquaticsgb.com/media/images/GettyImages-2170387796.width-800.jpg)
"My schoolfriends will be like 'it's mad, it's very cool'. They'll be so proud of me, so many people have gone on this journey with me, my teachers have always believed in me so they'll all be happy."
Toni Shaw came agonisingly close to the podium in the Women's SM9 200m Individual Medley, a storming freestyle finish seeing her place fourth in a season's best time.
The University of Aberdeen swimmer - who has also registered top-eight finishes in the S8 100m and 400m Freestyle finals earlier in the week - was two-and-a-half seconds back from the medal positions after 150m and the breaststroke leg of this one, only to turn on the afterburners and claw back the bulk of the advantage from Anastasiya Dmytriv Dmytriv, ultimately just missing out on the podium.
Scarlett Humphrey contested her fifth final at her maiden Paralympic Games, placing sixth in the SB11 100m Breaststroke finale, while Faye Rogers - champion in the S10 100m Butterfly - was fifth in a highly-competitive S10 400m Freestyle contest.
Earlier in the day, Matthew Redfern - who would watch his sister become a Paralympic champion a few hours earlier - just missed out on the final of the Men's SB13 100m Breaststroke after placing 13th.