Canada’s Aurélie Rivard clinched a bronze medal during the Para Pan Pacific Championships in Walnut, California. The accomplished Paralympic athlete secured third place in the women’s 400-meter freestyle final, competing against swimmers from the S6-11 and S13 categories. Rivard, a three-time Paralympic champion in the S10 400 free event, garnered 933 points by finishing the race in 4 minutes 37.04 seconds.
The gold medal went to Australia’s Lakeisha Patterson, a swimmer in the S9 classification, who amassed 986 points with a time of 4:40.35. Despite crossing the finish line first in 4:31.52, American Ali Truwit, an S10 athlete, earned 971 points. Mary Jibb from Bracebridge, Ontario, placed eighth with 848 points, clocking in at 4:47.89.
Scoring at the championships is based on the proximity of a swimmer’s time to the designated world record standard for their specific class. Rivard, who made a comeback to international competition after a year away, expressed her joy and determination, stating that the 400-meter freestyle remains her favorite race, where she believes there is more to achieve.
In other Canadian results, Nicholas Bennett from Parksville, British Columbia, finished fourth in the men’s 100m breaststroke final. The event witnessed a world record set by Naohide Yamaguchi of Japan, the 2020 SB14 Paralympic champion, with a time of 1:02.38. Reid Maxwell from St. Albert, Alberta, secured fifth place in the men’s 400m freestyle.
To catch the live action of the Para Pan Pacific Swimming Championships, viewers can tune in to CBCSports.ca and CBC Gem. The Day 3 preliminaries are set to begin at 12:30 p.m. ET on Sunday, followed by the final sessions of the meet at 8:30 p.m. ET.