Italy's Francesco Bocciardo pictured celebrating gold at the 2016 Paralympic Games ©Getty Images

Italy's Francesco Bocciardo was among the winners on the opening day of the World Para Swimming World Series-leg in the Lignano Sabbiadoro.

He clocked 1min 9.44sec in home water in the men's 100 metres freestyle to beat Brazil's Daniel Dias.

The 14-time Paralympic champion, who races in the same S5 category, swam 1:10.02.

Bocciardo and Dias scored 1,020 and 1,009 in a contest where swimmers from different classifications were ranked on points rather than times.

Daniel Dias also featured on the podium ©Getty Images
Daniel Dias also featured on the podium ©Getty Images

Philip Andrews Melo Rodriguez took another Brazilian medal with 988 points in third.

He swam a faster time of 52min 40sec but scored less points as he competes in the less impaired S10 division.

Marc Evers of The Netherlands, who won two gold medals in the opening event of the series in Copenhagen, was among other winners.

The 26-year-old repeated his 100m backstroke win from the Danish capital with 992 points.

The Dutch S14 swimmer finished ahead of Italy’s S10 rival Riccardo Menciotti, with 952 points, and Japan’s Keichi Nakajima, another S14 competitor, who score 932 points.