PARIS – A year’s hard work had a golden result for Nicholas Bennett Monday at the Paris 2024 Paralympic Games.
Bennett was third after 50 metres then found another gear in the final leg to win the 100-m SB14 breaststroke for his second medal of the Paralympics and Canada’s first gold.
“My head is spinning right now,” said the 20-year-old from Parksville, B.C.
Bennett won the race in 1:03.98. Jake Michel of Australia was second in 1:04.27 while Japan’s Naohide Yamaguchi, the world record holder and defending Paralympic champion, was third in 1:04.94.
Yamaguchi is a three-time world champion in the event. Bennett had finished second behind him at the 2023 Manchester Para Swimming World Championships.
“I had to hold on to race Yamaguchi, that was the only thing that mattered,” Bennett said. “I think I was just more confident.
“We’ve been working my breaststroke every day for the past year. Breaststroke is such a finicky race for myself. The moment day of is different than the day before.’”
Bennett, who is coached by his sister Haley Bennett-Osborne at the Red Deer Catalina Swim Club, took silver and broke his own Canadian record in the S14 200-m freestyle Saturday.
He fought back tears when listening to O Canada after being presented the gold medal by Carla Qualtrough, Canada’s minister of sport and physical activity, who is a former Paralympic swimmer.
“My success is my sister’s success and my family’s. Being up there shows that the Bennetts are doing the right thing and I’m able to show the world that we’re here,” said Bennett. “I’m just incredibly proud of me, my sister and my family. I wouldn’t be here without them.
“I tried to (win gold) on my first day of racing. I was proud to be able to represent our country.”
Bennett becomes the first Canadian man to win a Paralympic gold since Benoit Huot in the 200-m SM10 individual medley at the London 2012 Paralympics. It also was Canada’s 400th summer Paralympic gold medal.
“It’s an honour to be on the same level as the greats before me,” said Bennett. “This is a long road, so hopefully there’s more to come.”
Bennett will race the 200 IM Wednesday, an event he holds the world record and is the reigning world champion, and the 100 back Friday.
In other races Monday, Sabrina Duchesne of Saint-Augustin, Que., was sixth in the 400-m S7 freestyle in 5:24.08. In what could be his last Paralympic race, Nicolas-Guy Turbide, 27, of Quebec City was seventh in the 50-m S13 freestyle in 24.40 seconds.
“I think I’ve swam every single race of my career like it was the last one,” said Turbide. “I think it was one of my strengths.
“If it was my last one, I have no regrets with what I have accomplished. I’ll have some great memories from this moment even if it wasn’t the result I wanted.”
Ihar Boki, a neutral Paralympic athlete, won the race in 23.65 seconds to earn his 20th Paralympic gold medal and 22nd overall. Two athletes from Ukraine took silver and bronze, with Illia Yaremenko second in 23.77 and Oleksii Virchenko third in 23.85.
Turbide, who trains with Marc-Andre Pelletier at the Club de natation Région de Quebec, is the Commonwealth Games champion and was third at last year’s world championships.
Among the crowd at the Paris La Défense Arena watching Duchesne race were her parents, sister and coach who arrived from Quebec City two days before.
The 23-year-old swam the same time during the morning preliminaries as she did in the final.
“It’s definitely a first time,” said Duchesne, 23, who took bronze at worlds. “It’s a good time. To be able to repeat it morning and night it’s good.”
The 4×100-m mixed 34-point medley relay team of Shelby Newkirk of Saskatoon swimming the backstroke, Fernando Lu of Burnaby, B.C., the breaststroke, Reid Maxwell of Edmonton the butterfly and Arianna Hunsicker of Surrey, B.C., the freestyle finished eighth in 4:50.00. It was the first time the race was held at the Paralympics.
Maxwell was celebrating his 17th birthday and is the youngest member of the Canadian Paralympic contingent in Paris.
“It’s a very special experience just to swim a final in the Paralympics,” he said. “Doing it on your birthday is just a better birthday gift.”
There were some anxious moments for the relay team during the morning preliminaries. The group of Newkirk, Lu, Katie Cosgriffe of Burlington, Ont., and Maxwell finished ninth in their heat in 4:46.82 and had to wait five minutes before learning Czech had been disqualified, which moved them into the final.
Maxwell swam the freestyle in the preliminaries. His time of 59.41 seconds was faster than his Canadian S8 record of 1:00.15.
Canadian Para swimmers have won five medals in Paris. Aurélie Rivard of Saint-Jean-sur-Richelieu, Que., has a silver in the S10 100-m freestyle and a bronze in the 50-m free. Tess Routliffe of Caledon, Ont., was second in the 200-m SM7 individual medley.
A team of 22 athletes is representing Canada in Paris. Canadian swimmers won eight medals (three gold, three silver, two bronze) at the Tokyo 2020 Paralympics.
For full results please see https://olympics.com/en/paris-2024/paralympic-games/schedule/para-swimming?day=2-september
People wishing to watch the Paralympics can tune in for CBC/Radio-Canada’s coverage in English on CBC, CBC Gem, CBC’s Paris 2024 website (cbc.ca/paris2024) and the CBC Paris 2024 app for Android and iOS devices. In French on ICI TÉLÉ, ICI TOU.TV, Radio-Canada’s Paris 2024 website (Radio-Canada.ca/jeux-paralympiques), and the Radio-Canada Paralympiques app for Android and iOS devices.
The swimming competition ends Saturday.