William Ellard insisted he was ready to turn silver into gold after cracking the Paralympic podium at the first attempt.

Ellard, just 18, from Beccles, only started competitive swimming two years ago, but has already become a force to be reckoned with.

Last year saw him win three world medals on his international debut in Manchester and he showed no fears of the bright lights to claim S14 100m butterfly silver in front of a capacity crowd at La Defence Arena.

And his best event, he's a joint world record holder over double the distance, is still to come this weekend.

Ellard touched the wall at 50m with a narrow lead, but Denmark's Alexander Hillhouse chased him down in the closing metres to clock a 54.61-second Paralympic record. Ellard was just fractions behind in 54.86.

"I didn't think I'd be happy with a silver medal but I'm a really good friend with Alexander and I'm delighted for him," said Ellard, who is one of over 1,000 elite athletes on UK Sport’s National Lottery-funded World Class Programme, allowing them to train full time, have access to the world’s best coaches and benefit from pioneering medical support – which has been vital on their pathway to the Paris 2024 Games. 

"I felt myself tiring up in the last 25 metres and I knew he was coming for me, he’s very strong at the end of the race.

"I've still got my main event, the 200m freestyle, coming up and this has given me big confidence for that.

"This makes me want to strive even more for that gold medal, my fitness is good and I've total trust in my coach that we've got our preparation right."

Ellard claims whatever happens in Paris will be a bonus so early in his competitive career, targeting Los Angeles in four years as his principal ambition.

"I’m world champion and European champion, so next thing is, hopefully to be a Paralympic champion but I’m not putting pressure on myself," he added.

"The main priority was obviously LA initially, so this is sort of like a bonus.

"The main thing for me is to learn what these big events are about. I’ll be 22 in LA so I should be more experienced, so that’s the end goal."

Ellard is being cheered on by a huge group of family and friends in the stands in Paris, all decked out in T-shirts with his face on.

"There's loads of them, 30 or so, it's great to have all that support," he added. "I've had so many good luck cards at home, they’ve taken over the house, and I really feel that everyone is right behind me.

"I think they are pretty high in the stands; I told them to wear pink shirts so I could see them!"

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