By Emily Goddard

Oleksii Fedyna claimed one of Ukraine's six gold medals on the opening day of the International Paralympic Committee Swimming European Championships ©Getty ImagesUkraine have jumped straight to the top of the leader board at the International Paralympic Committee Swimming European Championships after securing six gold medals on the opening day of action in Eindhoven.

Of those medals, one came from Paralympic champion Oleksii Fedyna, who beat Belarus' reigning world champion Uladzimir Izotau in the men's 100 metres breaststroke SB12 in a world record time of 1 min 04.07sec to claim the continental title.

Dzmitry Salei of Azerbaijan clinched the bronze medal.

There was more gold for Ukraine in the men's 100m freestyle S4 race, where Andrii Derevinskyi touched in ahead of France's David Smetanine and Spaniard Richard Oribe in a winning time of 1:28.36.

Then it was the turn of Ukraine's four-time Paralympic champion Oleksandr Mashchenko to take gold in the men's 100m breaststroke SB11 ahead of Spain's Israel Oliver and compatriot Viktor Smyrnov, while world relay bronze medallist Iurii Bozhynskyi added to the nation's tally with gold in the men's 100m backstroke S8.

He beat two Russians, Konstantin Lisenkov and Denis Tarasov, who claimed silver and bronze respectively.

Meanwhile, host nation The Netherlands won four medals on the first day of the Championships, with Marc Evers breaking his own 100m backstroke S14 world record to claim gold in a time of 1:00.44 ahead of Great Britain's Jack Thomas and Aaron Moores.

Summer Mortimer secured gold for the home team with a European record time of 28.12 in the women's 50m freestyle S10 in Eindhoven ©Getty ImagesSummer Mortimer secured gold for the home team with a European record time of 28.12 in the women's 50m freestyle S10 in Eindhoven ©Getty Images


Former Canadian athlete Summer Mortimer also secured gold for the Dutch team with a European record time of 28.12 in the women's 50m freestyle S10.

Russia's Nina Ryabova finished second with 28.56 to take silver, while France's former European record holder Élodie Lorandi finished third in 28.64 for bronze.

Russia currently sit in second on the overall medals table with four golds thanks to the likes of world record breaking 100m freestyle S2 swimmer Alexander Makarov and Paralympic medallist Dmitry Grigorev, who lowered his own European record by 0.11 seconds in the men's 50m freestyle.

Other Russian golds came in the men's 400m freestyle S7 in the form of Andrey Gladkov, who touched in ahead of Norway's Andreas Skaar Bjornstad and Ukraine's Marian Kvasnytsia, and in the women's 100m backstroke S14 when Valeriia Shabalina defeated home athlete Marlou van der Kulk and Britain's Jessica-Jane Applegate.

There was more success for Britain in the women's 100m backstroke S8 as Stephanie Slater defeated Russia's multiple world and Paralympic medallist Olesya Vladykina and Ukrainian Kateryna Istomina to claim the European title.

Elsewhere, there was gold for Italy thanks to Trimi Arjola in the women's 100m freestyle S4, while Spain topped the podium in the men's 100m freestyle S5 and the men's 50m freestyle S9 thanks to victories from Sebastián Rodríguez and José Mari, respectively.

The Championships, which feature around 380 of the world's best swimmers from 37 nations, will continue until August 10.

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