Aurélie Rivard added another medal to her collection Thursday.
The four-time Paralympian from St-Jean-sur-Richelieu, Que., took bronze in the S10 50-metre freestyle during the opening night of competition at the Paris 2024 Paralympic Games.
Rivard touched the wall in 27.62 seconds, .24 behind American Christie Raleigh-Crossley, an S9 swimmer who set a world and Paralympic record of 27.28 during the morning preliminaries.
China’s Yi Chen made a move in the final 25 metres to win gold in an S10 world record time of 27.10 seconds. That shaved .27 off the S10 world record Rivard set at the Rio 2016 Paralympics.
Rivard said it “wasn’t a horrible result” for a race she doesn’t consider her best event.
“It’s an ice-break event,” said the 28-year-old. “It gave me a great idea of the shape I’m in. I know what I’m capable of doing.Â
“Regardless of the result, even if I would have broken the world record and won gold, I would have to put this behind me and move on the to the next race.”
Rivard, who trains with coach Marc-Andre Pelletier at Club de natation Region de Quebec, now has 11 medals (five gold, three silver, three bronze) in four Paralympics dating back to London 2012. The three-time 50-m world champion earned a bronze in the race at the Tokyo 2020 Paralympics.
It was Canada’s second medal of the Paris Paralympics and first in the pool.
Rivard’s 81-year-old grandfather, Jean Rivard, was part of the packed crowd at Paris La Défense Arena watching the competition.
“It was such a great moment to share with my family,” said Rivard. “I’m happy to see their faces always.”
In other races, Shelby Newkirk of Saskatoon just missed the podium in the 50-m S6 freestyle while Paralympic rookie Fernando Lu of Burnaby, B.C., was seventh in the 50-m S10 freestyle.
Newkirk’s time of 34.08 seconds left her 1.07 behind bronze medallist and world record holder Anna Hontar of Ukraine.
China’s Yuyan Jiang won gold in 32.59, shaving .21 off the Paralympic record she swam during the morning preliminaries.  American Ellie Marks took silver in 32.90, setting an Americas record.
Newkirk improved from her ninth-place finish in the same race in her first Paralympics in Tokyo.
“I can give it my all, I can do my absolute best but it all comes down to how everybody else did,” said the 28-year-old who trains with coach Ryan Jones with the Saskatoon Lasers Swim Club. “Today we had three amazing women that just happened to go faster.”
Newkirk’s best event is the S6 100-m backstroke on the final day of competition. She placed fourth in the race at the Tokyo Paralympics and won gold at the 2022 World Para Swimming Championships.
“I’m going to keep working on it and I’m going to keep chasing down those times and hopefully get even faster later on in the week,” she said.
Lu, who turned 17 on July 28, swam a personal best time of 24.84 in the men’s S10 race.
“I knew I was in the outside lane and had nothing to lose,” said Lu, who also swam a personal best 25.02 in the morning preliminaries to qualify for the final. “I just went my best and tried my hardest.”
Lu, who trains with coach Ryan Skomorowski with Olympians Swimming, has a busy schedule and will swim four more events in Paris. He returns to the pool Friday for the 100-m breaststroke.
“I don’t feel too tired so I think I’m pretty prepared for it.”
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=29-august.
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 Sept. 7.