Double Paralympic champion Applegate claimed a third World Championships gold medal as she sealed the women's 200 metres freestyle S14 title.

A time of 2min 09.09sec ensured she beat compatriots Bethany Firth and Louise Fiddes to top the podium.

It was a fruitful day for the hosts as they won four gold medals at the Manchester Aquatic Centre, with the first coming courtesy of Suzanna Hext.

She finished the women's 50m freestyle S5 in 36.71 to pip Ukrainian Iryna Poida and China's Dong Lu to victory.

"It is an honour to get the Great Britain team going and hopefully it is the first of many to come," Hext said.

"I know Ellie [Challis] followed me straight after there's a very exciting week ahead but it's my first time being world champion so I'm just blown away at the moment.

"I'm completely in shock."

Challis immediately doubled the British tally by taking glory in the women's 50m breaststroke SB2 final with a time of 1:05.72 while German Tanja Scholz and Israel's Veronika Guirenko followed in second and third respectively.

Stephen Clegg bagged the final British gold in the men's 100m backstroke S12 event.

His 1:00.13 finish was enough to beat Azerbaijan's silver medallist Raman Salei and Douglas Matera of Brazil as they settled for silver and bronze. 

The men's 200m individual medley SM7 discipline saw a world record set as Ukraine's Andrii Trusov posted a historic time of 2:28.19.

China's Jincheng Guo broke the men's 50m freestyle S5 world record twice in the same day with an initial 30.09sec before setting the current best at 29.78.