Northampton swimmer Ellie Robinson qualifies fourth quickest for 400m freestyle final at Paralympics

Ellie Robinson has reached the 400m S6 freestyle final at the Paralympics

Robinson came second in her heat in Rio on Tuesday afternoon, finishing fewer than four seconds behind heat winner, fellow Brit and reigning paralympic champion Ellie Simmonds.

The pair were well clear of the rest of the field, and both go on to compete in the final, which is scheduled to start at 9.41pm on Tuesday evening.

Robinson led the heat for the first 25 metres, but was soon overtaken by Simmonds who led for the rest of the race.

The 15-year-old Northampton High School pupil stayed on her team-mate’s coat-tails throughout the rest of the heat, never falling more than five metres behind, and finished in a time of 5.41.04, with Simmonds clocking 5.37.75.

They were the third and fourth fastest times of the two heats, with the top two in the second heat claiming the top two spots.

The fastest time of 5.25.27 was set by world record holder Yelyzaveta Mereshko from Ukraine, while Song Lingling from China was second quickest in 5.35.43.

Robinson will be hoping she can add to the gold medal she won on Friday night in the 50m butterfly.

The race is scheduled to be shown live on Channel 4.