GREAT Britain Paralympics swimming star Poppy Maskill has contested her fourth final in the Paris 2024 Games and bagged another medal.

She secured silver in a thrilling SM14 200m individual medley final on Wednesday afternoon.

Maskill, who won a bronze in this event at last year's world championships, led after 100 metres, following fine efforts with her butterfly and backstroke lengths.

And she was only narrowly behind after the breaststroke segment, but Neutral Paralympic Athlete Valeriia Shabalina was able to maintain her short lead on the freestyle leg to take the gold and successfully defend her title.

On winning her fourth medal of her debut Paralympics, Maskill said: “I was just happy to be in finals, it’s my first one so I just wanted to try my hardest and see what happened.

"I just tried to do a good fly and backstroke, as my breaststroke is not my strongest. I take confidence from previous races but I’m still nervous for each one as it’s different every time.

“I still have backstroke to come and hopefully I’ll do alright in that.

"The atmosphere is really good in the village, everyone in my flat has won medals which is pretty nice.”

Poppy Maskill with her silver medalPoppy Maskill with her silver medal (Image: Zac Goodwin/PA)

Result:

1 (NPA) SHABALINA Valeriia 2:22.402

2 (GBR) MASKILL Poppy 2:23.931.533

3 (JPN) KINOSHITA Aira 2:25.96

Great Britain's Poppy Maskill, silver, left; Neutral Paralympic Athletics' Valeriia Shabalina, gold, centre, and Japan's Aira Kinoshita, bronze, following the women's 200m individual medley SM14 final at the Paris La Defense ArenaGreat Britain's Poppy Maskill, silver, left; Neutral Paralympic Athletics' Valeriia Shabalina, gold, centre, and Japan's Aira Kinoshita, bronze, following the women's 200m individual medley SM14 final at the Paris La Defense Arena (Image: Zac Goodwin/PA)

Nineteen-year-old Middlewich mermaid Maskill has won hearts of the nation as a golden girl of the pool for ParalympicsGB in Paris over the past week.

A former Northwich Centurions and Winsford Swim Team member, she has been in world record-breaking form in the Paris La Defense Arena, stirring a media frenzy in the process.

As the first gold-medal winner for Great Britain in her maiden Games in the French capital last Thursday, when she won the S14 women’s 100m butterfly in the fastest time time it’s ever been swam, Maskill featured in national headlines and received a congratulatory message on socail media from the Prime Minister Keir Starmer.

Maskill, who is being roared on by her parents, sister and nan in Paris, backed up the gold with two more medals over the weekend.

On Saturday the former Middlewich rose queen recorded her fastest time of the year in the S14 women’s 200m freestyle as she secured silver.

Then on Sunday she delivered an outstanding third leg for the Great Britain S14 mixed 4x100m freestyle team as they stormed to a wide margin of victory.

That success was achieved alongside fellow Games debutants Will Ellard, Rhys Darbey and Olivia Newman-Baronius.

Now she has her second silver but she is not finished yet.

On Friday, she will be bidding to reach the final of the S14 women’s 100m backstroke.

Maskill arrived at the Paris Games as a multiple world champion para swimmer in the S14 class for athletes with an intellectual impairment.