PARALYMPIC hopeful Alice Tai took another step on the road to Rio when she won a medal of each colour on her major international debut in Eindhoven.

The Bournemouth Collegiate School academy swimmer’s gold came in the women’s 34-point 4x100m freestyle relay as she clocked the fastest time in the final (1:03.16) to anchor Britain to victory.

Team-mates Stephanie Millward, Susie Rodgers and Steph Slater had all won the individual 100m freestyle in their categories.

Tai, 15, also won silver in the S10 100m backstroke in 1:09.19, bronze in the 400m freestyle in 4:47.52 and came fourth in the 100m freestyle and seventh in the 50m freestyle (29.61).

Tai, who has had a dozen operations after being born with two club feet, said: “This was my first major international and it was incredible.

“The team was very supportive. We all gelled and came down to cheer each other on in the finals.

“I didn’t expect to swim as well as I did.

“This was a stepping stone to Rio 2016 and the worlds next year.

“We haven’t got everything perfected yet and it’s something we can work on towards Rio.”