Gold medals and world records came in three separate packages for AIS swimmers in a super night for Australia in the pool at the Beijing Paralympics.

First it was Peter Leek, then Matt Cowdrey, then Rick Pendleton - all delivering resounding first placings in their individual 200m medley events and topping previous world marks…their own in the case of Leek and Cowdrey.

Leek and Cowdrey (both AIS scholarship holders) took five seconds and three seconds respectively off their previous marks for S8 and S9 competitors, while Pendleton stripped almost two seconds off the record for the S10 class.

The trifecta propelled Australia to third on the swimming tally of gold medals behind the US and Great Britain.

Leek’s victory in 2.20.92 (previously 2.25.51) gives the 20-year-old from Sydney a second world record and takes his medal haul so far to five - two gold, two silvers and a bronze.

Leek, nicknamed “Pipes”, said the only secret to his “awesome” results in Beijing was 18 years of hard work.

“And every minute of that hard work has been worth it to get results like these,” he said.

“I knew I had to go out hard to win a race like this. So I just went for it and I can’t believe how fast the time is.

“I’m just stoked that time belongs to me because I think it’s going to be a long time before anyone beats it.”

Cowdrey swamped his previous mark for the distance with a time of 2.13.60 (previously 2.16.32) to defend his second Paralympic medal from Athens.

“I knew I’d be close to going under 15 but I didn’t think a 13 was quite possible, so hey, I definitely came out, enjoyed the night and swam fast,” he said.

“That was probably the biggest race of the meet for me, so now I’ve defended both titles from Athens I’m ecstatic.

“And that time was really, really quick so I don’t think I could have had a better night than tonight.”

Pendleton (AIS/NSWIS), who was born without a left hand, said he was shocked with his time.

“I was expecting maybe a 2.14, so 4 seconds off my Personal Best, that’s a massive swim.

“I always knew that I’d be behind in the fly and backstroke so once I got to the breast stroke I knew I just had to drop the hammer and go for it.

“Just everything came together at the same time – everything falls into line properly for you, that’s the reason you go so fast.”

Meanwhile, freestyle Jay Dohnt (AIS) won bronze in the 400 m final S7 tonight and said his entire family of seven were in tears.

“I came here to get a medal and didn’t care what colour it was. This is the best. I am so relieved and happy,” he said.