Eight-time Paralympic gold medallist Matthew Cowdrey (S9) has stormed home in the men’s 100m freestyle to win his first gold medal at the 2011 Australian Swimming Championships at Sydney Olympic Park.

Posting a time of 55.58, the 22-year-old was only 0.28 of a second outside his Beijing world record, to retain his national title against a strong field of Australia’s best Paralympic swimmers.

Mitchell Kilduff (S14), who broke the 50m freestyle world record on the weekend, came in second (55.73) with Daniel Fox (S14) in third position (56.01).

Having lost his national title in the 100m backstroke earlier this week, Cowdrey was pleased with the win and believes he is on track to rewriting his Beijing Paralympic world record.

“I knew coming into this week I’ve probably been slightly underdone so to swim as fast as I have has been really good, especially that race in particular. To get that close to the my best time is good and it’s getting close to where I was in Beijing, so not a bad swim all round,” he said.

Facing his third Paralympic Games in London, Cowdrey needs to win three gold medals to become Australia’s most successful ever Paralympian.

“It’s a huge an exciting opportunity, but it’s not a sure thing by any means,” he said.

“Paralympic sport has come a long way in the last eight years since I’ve been involved, so there’s no such thing as a certainty that’s for sure. I’ve got make sure my head’s down and I’m still working towards that goal over the next 18 months.”