The Newquay youngster swam a 10-second personal best in the S6 400 metres freestyle to kick start the British team's nine-medal haul on the fourth night of competition in Durban.

 

Whorwood collected silver behind world record holder Sebastian Rodrigues of Spain in 5min 25.67sec.

 

"I feel fantastic," said Whorwood. "All that work has finally paid off. Because of my age I would have been happy just to get a medal but to win a silver is more than I could have hoped for.

 

"The board didn't show my time when I touched so I was slightly worried, but that was a 10-second PB and a British record.

 

"This morning I swam to make the final and I was really pleased to go though second fastest. I knew I had something left in the tank, but I didn't know it was ten seconds worth."

 

Swim Swansea's Dave Roberts picked up his third gold medal of the meet with a European record in the S7 400m Freestyle. Roberts, who has already been crowned champion in the 100m freestyle and 4x100m relay this week, was just off world record pace to finish in 4:53.80.

 

"To get the 400m title means a lot to me," he said. "I've got the Paralympic and European titles, but I came second at the last World Championships in Argentina so it was important to do well here.

 

"It's been a great World Championships for me so far and it's exceeded my expectations, especially in that swim. I couldn't believe the pace of my race. It's frustrating to be so close to the world record and not realise, but it's taken me six years to get close to it and now it's within reach."

 

British team mate Andrew Lindsay was also at his best to swim his quickest time ever for silver in 5:01.66.

 

"After my performance in the heats I knew I could get a PB this afternoon," said Lindsay. "My swim was really smooth and controlled this morning and felt there was more in there.

 

"It really helps to race against a British team mate as there's always the hope you'll get a one-two and we achieved that today. It's a great result and really good for the British team. That's my last event now so I'm going to put all my effort into supporting and helping the team continue its good run of performances."

 

Nyree Lewis put the disappointment of Sunday's breaststroke behind her to focus on a solid performance in the S6 400m freestyle. The 26-year-old, who moved to Leominster Swim Club at the start of the year, was back close to her best to snatch gold in 6:04.46.

 

"I'm really pleased to win, but I would have liked to have gone faster," she said. "I've not felt one hundred percent since the breaststroke at the weekend so I'm chuffed I did it in the time I did.

 

"In Athens I finished third in this event and only got one individual gold so to get two here already is really encouraging. I was disappointed after my performance on Sunday and I needed this to pick me up again."

 

S1 swimmer Danielle Watts is leading a personal charge to boost Britain's medal tally as she collected her third individual gold medal of the meet.

 

Watts dominated the 50m backstroke and touched almost 20 seconds ahead of her nearest rival in 1:22.26, just three hundredths of a second away from the world record.

 

"I'm chuffed with that performance," she said. "It's a shame I just missed out on the world record but I'll nail it next time. That's my third gold now which is brilliant as they all count towards the team total. To come here and get results like that makes all the hard work worth while."

 

Claire Cashmore received a welcome boost with silver in the SB8 100m breaststroke. The Kelly College student lead the field at the half way point but lost out to Denmark's Sisse Egeborg on the final sprint and finished in 1:27.98.

 

"I really wanted gold and it was so close," she said. "At 50m I knew I was in front and I thought I had it but I messed up my finish.

 

"I'm pleased to get silver though - I've been so frustrated with my performances here. I've been working so hard and I didn't feel like it was paying off, but now I've got the medal it's a big boost and I'll aim to get Sisse back in Beijing."

 

Jim Anderson lost out to newcomer Dmitry Kokarev who took the title in the S2 50m backstroke. The Russian passed Anderson on the final 20m to hit the wall in 1:04.97, and Anderson was forced to settle for silver in 1:08.07.

 

"I'm quite disappointed with the silver, but it shows I have to work on my back-end speed," he said. "I hit my half-way target but lost it on the last 25m. I'll have to try and beat him in the 100m Freestyle. I find I do better over the longer distances because I can get into a rhythm."

 

In the S3 50m freestyle, Fran Williamson won her first major international title in a new British record. The Colchester Phoenix sliced more than two seconds off her previous best to lower the record to 1:04.36 and beat long-term rival Annke Conradi of Germany.

 

Another Brit improving their lifetime best was James Crisp who set a new British record in the SM9 200m individual medley. Crisp turned around a slow start to the meet to lower his best to 2:22.85 for the bronze.

 

"That's my first PB for four years in that event," he said. "I knew I was in with a chance of a medal but I felt quite heavy going into the race, so I'm really pleased with the end result.

 

"I've been disappointed with some of my performances so far but I was pretty before the event. It's not an event I train for, I just like to race it and it turned out well for me tonight."

 

Other top performances for Britain in the pool include bronze in the S13 100m butterfly for Swim Swansea's Rhiannon Henry and British records for Rob Welbourn (S10 200m individual medley), Callum Lawson (SB9 100m breaststroke) and Claire Warne (S5 50m butterfly).