Simmonds was one of five gold medallists for the Britons in the German capital and her first gold had the whole team on their feet as she broke her own world record by two seconds.

The world champion went into the lead from the start and finished the race 17 seconds ahead of her rivals in a stunning time of 5min 25.20sec.

"I just went for it in that final and I am so happy to get the record," said Simmonds.

"It was such a hard swim and at 200 metres it was tough.

"When I touched and there was no time because of the timing problem I was surprised and then I mistook the time on the board for 5:41 which I was really disappointed with.

"Then when I was told that I had got the world record I was so pleased.

"I have been training really hard and it's great to have got that done on day one."

Mirjam de Koning-Peper of the Netherlands won the silver with a time of 5:42.42 and Briton Natalie Jones won the bronze in 5:58.56.

Simmonds was not the only Briton in record breaking form as world champion Jonathan Fox set a world record in the heats of the men's S7 400m freestyle with a time of 4:47.16 before claiming gold in the final in a slightly slower time.

"I am very pleased with that," Fox said.

"I came here to get gold and it is great to have done that.

"I might have gone out a bit strong but I think that the time was good.

"I got the record this morning and I knew I had that in me."

Croatia's former world record holder Mihovil Spanja won silver in a time of 4:51.74 and bronze went to Marian Kvasnytsia of Ukraine in 5:07.29.


Paralympic champion Heather Frederiksen made a golden return to the international scene after a drugs ban with a powerful swim in the women's S8 100m backstroke as she touched the wall in 1:15.90 well ahead of Mariann Vestbostad of Norway and Olesya Vladykina of Russia respectively.

Frederiksen was banned for six months last May after she tested positive for raised levels of Salbutamol at the IPC European Championships in Reykjavik, where she won four gold medals, a silver and a bronze.

"That went really well tonight," said Frederiksen, who was stripped of all her European medals after the positive test.

"I have not had the best preparation for this meet.

"I was really ill at Christmas and then three weeks ago I was back in hospital and so I have been out of the water for two weeks leading into this competition.

"I had a plan to get out there strong and I am happy that I have done that tonight."

There was also gold for British newcomer to the international circuit Susannah Rodgers who stormed to gold in a European record in the women's S7 400m freestyle.

Rodgers was pushed all the way by Germany's defending Champion Kirsten Bruhn but Rodgers increased her speed to hold a two second lead with 100 metres to go and touched in the new record time of 5:22.61 to clinch her first international medal with Bruhn taking silver and Ukraine's Ani Palian securing bronze.

Rhiannon Henry secured a British record on her way to winning the women's SM13 200m individual medley in a time of 2:33.92, as Iryna Balashova of Ukraine won silver in 2:45.17 and Spain's Marta Maria Gomez Battelli bronze in 2:47.47.

Meanwhile, the youngest member of the British team, Andrew Mullen won silver on his international debut the men's S5 50m butterfly and finished in 42.69 to win his medal while teammate Anthony Stephens won bronze in 43.68.

Stephanie Millward and Louise Watkin won the silver and bronze medals respectively in the women's S9 100m freestyle while Robert Welbourn won the silver medal in the men's S10 100m freestyle and Oliver Hynd secure bronze in the men's S8 100m backstroke.

Meanwhile, James Anderson, won bronze in the men's S2 50m freestyle and Fran Williamson won bronze in the women's S3 50m freestyle to make cap a great start for the British team in the biggest event for them ahead of the London 2012 Paralympics.

National performance Director John Atkinson said: "Five gold medals from five different athletes is a pleasing start to the competition.

"We had 14 medallists in total and all of those medals went to different swimmers so the majority of our team will be going home with a medal around their necks.

"This will be a good boost to team confidence as the meet progresses."

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