ATHENS, Sept. 19 (Xinhuanet) -- The world records for swimmers with physical disabilities seemed to be crisp on the opening day of swimming on Sunday at the 12th Paralympic Games in Athens.

    A total of 13 world records were broken out of 19 events at the first session among which 11 was made during the finals, creating an amazing start for the nine-day long competition.

    Kovar Martin of the Czech Republic opened up the rush of the finals by winning men's S3 100m freestyle in a time of one minute 43.51 seconds, improving his own record of 1:45.36 which he set three months ago.

    However, record-breaking feat began earlier on the day. During the heats this morning, five world records were set.

    Australian Ben Austin set a new mark of 1:05.79 in the men's 100m butterfly in the S8 division. Less than eight hours later, the record was kicked off the screen as China's promising youngster Wang Xiaofu, 15, touched the timing board in a time of 1:05.20 for the gold medal.

    The young star swimmer from southwestern Chinese province Yunnan snatched the gold medal at the first out of his six individual and two relay events in Athens.

    "It was surprising," said Wang. "I felt great pressure when he (Austin) broke the record in the heat. So I have to go ahead at full split. I am extremely glad when I did it."

    The same thing happened at men's S9 100m butterfly when Josus Collado from Spain beat the previous world record in the final set by Sam Bramham from the United States Sunday morning and took the first place.

    World record holder of women's 100m freestyle in S4 category was the easiest winner tonight. The Japanese dominated the pool from the very start and she returned home first in a time of 1:25.07. It slimmed her previous record set in the Sydney games by almost five seconds while leading her opponents by nearly 26 seconds.

    Espanol Sebastian Rodriguez was another world record holder to have exceeded his own achievement at men's S5 100m Freestyle, while Natalie Jones of Britain, Ana Garcia-Arcicollar of Spain and Sergel Punko from Belarus all refurbished the world bests in the finals of their events.

    Briton Sascha Kindred, American Erin Popovich and Natalie de Toit from South Africa all shined twice as they surpassed the world records for two times at both the heats and the finals of their own event.

    Earlier this morning, American Rudy Garcia and Brazilian Clodoaldo Silva were among the world records breakers.

    However, golds and records are not everything here. Kenny Cairns from Britain, 47, failed to clinch a sixth Paralympic gold medal during his fifth Paralympic Games, finishing fifth in men's S3 100m freestyle event.

    "It is real tough this time. Anyway, I am satisfied," said Cairn. "I will keep going, cause I am still strong."

    The swimming program, featuring 167 disciplines of the 12th Paralympic Games begins Sunday at the Indoor Pool of the Aquatic Center. A record 594 swimmers will compete from September 19-27.

    China fielded a biggest squad of 52 athletes while Spain and USA are leading the other big teams. Enditem