As Tupou Neiufi touched the wall in the final of the women's 100m backstroke S8 class, she had no idea what she had accomplished.
In fact, it wasn't until she realised her fellow Kiwi para swimmers were going crazy in the stands that the 20-year-old realised she made history as a Paralympics champion.
"I had no idea what was going on, I was so confused," Neiufi told 1 NEWS shortly after the race.
"And then I heard my teammates screaming so I thought, oh, I should probably look up [at the big screen] and I was so shocked.
"It's a surreal moment."
Neifui became New Zealand's first gold medallist at this year's Paralympics with her performance on Friday evening, after she took control of the race in the opening stages and extended her lead.
The para swimmer didn't know she was leading for most of the race though.
"I panicked because I was trying to stay on the left side of the lane and I ended up touching the right side so I was like, 'oh my god, where did the technique go?'," she said.
"When I touched the wall, I was shocked... it'll probably take a while to sink in."
Neiufi added she had a pretty simple mindset going into the race.
"Go fast or go home."
With the 50m freestyle still to come, there's certainly no need to do the latter just yet.
SHARE ME