CORSHAM'S Stephanie Millward won a bronze medal on the opening night of competition at the Paralympic Games in Rio.

The 34 year old clocked 4:49.49 to finish in third place in the women's S8 400m freestyle, the first of a likely seven events in Rio for the Wiltshire swimmer.

As expected, Millward was part of a triumverate to pull clear of the rest of the field in the final to decide the medals.

But while the USA's Jessica Long went into the race as the favourite, Australia's Lekeisha Patterson pulled out a brilliant swim to secure a comfortable victory in a new world record time of 4:40.33.

Long was second in 4:47.82, with Millward, a five-time silver medallist at the London 2012 Games, pushing her close for the silver medal before settling for bronze.

Millward said: "Everyone is swimming really well in a really fast pool.

"It's been exciting because I've got a whole new set of competitors. I've got a few more races and I'm really excited for them."

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