Βι¶ΉΤΌΕΔ

Day one of swimming action in the Water Cube did not quite match the in the velodrome but Sascha Kindred gave it his all and was once again rewarded for his sterling efforts.

Kindred made it three consecutive wins in the SM6 200m individual medley, completing one half of a potential triple-double as he chases a third SB7 200m breaststroke crown later in the meeting - a title he also won in Sydney and Athens.

It was a first night session packed with world records - 13 in all - and some Chinese performances that had the sell-out crowd on their feet and making a racket.

It feels like only yesterday that I was sitting in the very chilled atmosphere of the Sha Tin arena watching the Olympic dressage riders strut their stuff... now I'm back doing the same at the Paralympics and it feels great.

There's a little bit more to do as I'm here for TV but it's mostly the same team and which horse lover would ever complain about getting to watch horses all day for their job?!

The standard in the Grade 3 this morning was split between the top four who were excellent to the bottom three who weren't so great.

The current leader is Germany's Hannelore Brenner who did an outstanding test scoring 71.615%. Simon Laurens got the British team off to a good start though with 69.538% for 2nd place on Ocean Diamond.

The excitement amongst the here in Beijing is almost palpable.

I went on Friday to the warm-up track to watch the team's final preparations and everything looked great.

You can tell that wheelchair racer is in great shape and pushing well, not only by the speeds that he is hitting on the track, but also the fact that most of the other guys who are there are watching what he is doing.