At the Para Pan Pacific Championships in Walnut, California, Canadian swimmer Aurélie Rivard clinched a bronze medal in the women’s 400-meter freestyle final on Saturday. Rivard, a 13-time Paralympic medalist, secured third place in a field that included athletes from the S6-11 and S13 classifications. She is a three-time Paralympic champion in the S10 400 free event.
Rivard, a 30-year-old from Saint-Jean-sur-Richelieu, Quebec, earned 933 points with a time of 4 minutes 37.04 seconds, finishing second. Lakeisha Patterson from Australia, competing in the S9 category, claimed gold with 986 points after clocking 4:40.35. Despite touching the wall first in 4:31.52, S10 American Ali Truwit only garnered 971 points. Mary Jibb from Bracebridge, Ontario, placed eighth with 848 points in a time of 4:47.89.
The points awarded are based on a swimmer’s proximity to the designated world record standard for their specific category, with closer times earning higher points. Rivard, who recently made a comeback to international competition after a year away, expressed her mixed emotions about the race but emphasized her belief in her abilities to improve further.
In other Canadian results, Nicholas Bennett from Parksville, British Columbia, finished fourth in the men’s 100m breaststroke SB4-6, 8-9, 11, 13-14 final, where Japan’s Naohide Yamaguchi set a world record with a time of 1:02.38. Reid Maxwell from St. Albert, Alberta, secured fifth place in the men’s 400m freestyle S6-9, S11, S13 category.
Fans can catch live coverage of the Para Pan Pacific Swimming Championships on CBCSports.ca and CBC Gem, with Day 3 preliminaries starting on Sunday at 12:30 p.m. ET and the final session at 8:30 p.m. ET.
