The 21-year-old five-time Paralympic gold medallist (pictured centre), whose left arm stops at his elbow, beat the world record he set at the Beijing 2008 Paralympics as well as his own Commonwealth Games record of 25.66 which he remarkably set in qualifying earlier in the day.

England’s Simon Miller picked up the silver medal in 26.70 while India’s Prasanta Karmakar, who took bronze in 27.48, made his own piece of history by winning his nation’s first ever swimming medal.

Cowdrey though, was the star of the show and took the opportunity to again call for more Paralympic events at the Commonwealth Games.

"At this sort of meet, I would like to see a few more events included," said Cowdrey, who is widely tipped to be one of the stars at the London 2012 Paralympic Games in just under two years’ time.

"I am very thankful I am one of the small amount of Paralympic athletes who gets the opportunity to swim here at the Commonwealth Games, but to include a couple of more events and get a greater presence from Paralympic sport would be a great thing in terms of atmosphere as well."

Cowdrey is set to return to the pool on Saturday for the men’s S9 100m freestyle where he will be strong favourite to claim his second gold of the Games.

Contact the writer of this story [email protected]


Related stories
October 2010: Australian Paralympic champion calls for more events at Commonwealth Games