The 17-year-old from Maryland, who claimed gold the 400m freestyle S10 at London 2012, took the win 16min 34.01sec in an event that also serves as both Canada's and United States qualifiers for the 2013 International Paralympic Committee (IPC) Swimming World Championships in Montreal in August.

"My coach and I decided to go for the record in the 1500m," said Silverman.

"I was able to execute my race strategy and pace throughout the race to get my first world record.

"After the 1500 prelim this morning, I swam a bunch of 100s to prepare for tonight, and it paid off with a win in the 100m free."

There was also a phenomenal performance for America's Kayla Wheeler, who set a world record in the preliminary round then topped it in the finals with a time of 1:30.57 in the 50m butterfly.

"I tried something new tonight and didn't tell my coach what I was planning," said Wheeler.

"I focused less on my turnover and more on the underwater pull and it really paid off.

"I'm super excited about my swim tonight and I look forward to the rest of the meet."

The competition at the University of Minnesota sees more than 200 athletes from America, Brazil, Canada, Colombia, France, Iceland, Mexico and Russia in action.

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