Winnifrith had qualified second-fastest for the final behind Neutral Paralympic Athlete and defending champion Mariia Pavlova.
But Pavlova started the final strongly and maintained her dominance, beating her own world record by 0.77 seconds with a time of 1:26.09 as the Briton set a new personal best of 1:29.69 ahead of Canada’s Tess Routliffe (1:31.38).
“I’m really happy with that swim. Much as I wanted the gold, it’s still a silver medal and a lifetime best,” said the Kent swimmer, who, like her idol Ellie Simmonds, has now won a Paralympic medal aged 13.
“I knew I had to fight for a medal. I tried to catch the other girl as much as possible but today it wasn’t enough.
“Ellie has influenced me so much and I’ve now met her a few times and she has really helped me.”
Winnifrith is Britain’s youngest Paralympic swimming medallist since Scotland’s Abby Kane claimed S13 backstroke silver at Rio 2016, six weeks after her 13th birthday.
Joanne Round, later Joanne Rout, remains Britain’s youngest Paralympic champion after she won two relay golds at the 1988 Seoul Games aged 12.
The team could look quite different come November, as captain Anne Keothavong can make as many as three changes up until a day before GB’s first-round match a
Emma Raducanu and Katie Boulter are set to lead Great Britain at the Billie Jean King Cup Finals in Malaga in November.Both have been named in the team for the
Ged Scott, BBC SportIf Gary Shaw had played in the modern game, he would have won more than just seven England Under-21 caps.He was more than good enough to hav
Anthony Joshua fights Daniel Dubois for the IBF heavyweight world title at Wembley Stadium on Saturday. Here's all you need to kno