Competing at the International Paralympic Committee World Championships in Montreal, Downie won silver in the 200m individual medley SM10, clocking a personal best time of 2:33.68 to finish equal second with Canadian Aurelie Rivard.
The 17-year-old, who was a member of the gold medal winning 4x100m freestyle and 4x100m medley relay teams at last year’s London Paralympics, said she was surprised to win silver after thinking she had touched the wall third or fourth.
‘I remember thinking I didn’t want the Canadian swimmer to beat me,’ she said.
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READ NOW‘I was looking in the wrong direction and trying to kick and in the end just gave it everything I had.
‘I ended up drawing with the Canadian swimmer to win silver but I just couldn’t be happier ” it’s my first world championships medal so I’m ecstatic.’
She then went on to win bronze in the 100m backstroke S10 with another personal best time of 1:11.14, finishing behind New Zealander Sophie Pascoe and Russian Nina Ryabova.
She also competed in the 50m freestyle S10 where she came sixth.
Downie will now turn her attention to Year 12 exams before ramping up the training for selection for next year’s Commonwealth Games in Glasgow.