Canada’s Aurélie Rivard clinched a bronze medal during the second day of 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 gold medalist in the S10 400 freestyle, accumulated 933 points with a finishing time of 4 minutes 37.04 seconds.
The gold medal in this event was claimed by Australia’s Lakeisha Patterson in the S9 class, earning 986 points with a time of 4:40.35. Despite touching the wall first, S10 American Ali Truwit settled for silver with 971 points after finishing in 4:31.52. Mary Jibb from Bracebridge, Ontario, finished eighth with 848 points in a time of 4:47.89.
Points in this competition are awarded based on how close a swimmer’s time is to the world record standard for their specific classification. Rivard, who recently returned to international competition after a hiatus, expressed her joy at achieving the bronze medal and her determination to continue improving.
In other Canadian results, Nicholas Bennett from Parksville, British Columbia, placed fourth in the men’s 100m breaststroke final, where Japan’s Naohide Yamaguchi set a world record with a time of 1:02.38. Reid Maxwell from St. Albert, Alberta, finished fifth in the men’s 400m freestyle.
Fans can watch live coverage of the Para Pan Pacific Swimming Championships on CBCSports.ca and CBC Gem. The preliminaries for Day 3 will commence on Sunday at 12:30 p.m. ET, followed by the final session at 8:30 p.m. ET.
