HEREFORDSHIRE'S Paraly-mpian swimming duo Sascha Kindred and Nyree Lewis have been in gold-medal winning form at the Visa Paralympic World Cup.
Both county swimmers starred as British team members completed clean sweeps in the 200m individual medley events.
Kindred was favourite to win the men's event after being unbeaten for almost seven years and did not disappoint his supporters by romping home in 2:47.71 minutes, more than 10 seconds ahead of second-placed Matthew Whorwood who was a further half-second up on Gareth Duke.
"I am unbeaten in that event since Sydney," said Kindred. "There are a lot of youngsters coming through into the GB squad - half of this team are under 21 - so at 29 I am one of the oldest.
"But I'm still fit and swimming well. My experience means I know how to pace myself when I am in the lead on my own but I am still swimming quickly and enjoying myself."
In the women's event, Lewis had to be content with a silver medal, finishing just under four seconds behind winner Natalie Jones but more than two seconds ahead of Elizabeth Johnson.
"Natalie always seems to just get the better of me," said Lewis, who also finished in second place behind her rival at the 2004 Paralympics in Athens.
"I was leading at 100m and I thought that I might have finally got the better of her.
"But she got into her stride in the final 100m and I couldn't hang on."
But Leominster Kingsfishers swimmer Lewis did have the satisfaction of returning home with a gold medal after powering home first in her preferred event, the 100m backstroke.
Finishing just outside her World best in an impressive 1:30.32 minutes, Lewis was almost 10 seconds clear of Netherlands swimmer Mirjam de koning and more than 14 seconds ahead of Mexico's Doramitzi Gonzalez who came home third.
She was, however, disappointed to miss out on breaking her own World record.
"I wanted the record but I am very pleased with how I swam and the gold was the first target," said Lewis.
"Breaking the record at the Paralympics wouldn't be bad!"
Lewis and Kindred will now turn their attentions to Beijing 2008, and Lewis, like Kindred, has not ruled out the possibility of an appearance at the London Games in 2012.
"Beijing is the immediate target and that's where my efforts are concentrated but I have still got some qualifiers to get through.
"London is obviously out there and competing in this event gives you a taste of how motivating it is to swim in front of a home crowd.
"I will be nearly 32 in 2012 so I am taking that decision just one day at a time."
Overall, British swimmers won seven gold medals in Manchester while there were also six silver and five bronze.
"It is a shame that we have not got another major championships this year but that means the Paralympic World Cup is a key event for us," said Kindred.
"With both teams getting gold, silver and bronze in the 200m individual medley, it shows we are up for it."
Visa was the first sponsor of the Paralympic Games and their support will continue through to the London 2012 Games as they help bring Paralympic sport to a global audience.
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