Aurélie Rivard stepped to the top of the podium for the third straight Paralympic Games, and Tess Routliffe added a bronze medal for Canada Thursday in Paris.
Rivard completed a three-peat of the women’s 400-m freestyle S10, a title she first captured at the Rio 2016 Games, then defended in world record time three years ago in Tokyo. Meanwhile, her longtime teammate Routliffe earned bronze in the women’s 100-m breaststroke SB7.
Rivard won in a time of 4:29.20, leaving the second and third steps of the podium to Alexandra Truwit of Team USA (4:31.39) and Bianka Pap of Hungary (4:35.63.) She sat third at the halfway point, but overtook first Pap, then Truwit, pulling in front at the 300-m mark then extending her lead over the final two laps.
“When I flipped at the 300-metre mark it was just about bringing it home. I worked on this so many times in training, always no matter what finishing strong, every single set, every single day. I just did what I knew. That’s what I trained for,” said Rivard, who trains with coach Marc-André Pelletier at Club de Natation Région de Québec.
“I saw the light on the block with the No. 1 and think I lost 50 pounds of pressure and stress. My biggest fear before the race was to let the other girls make me lose my concentration because they were going to be ahead,” added the 28-year-old from St-Jean-sur-Richelieu, Que. “I still had a lot of energy when I flipped at the 200. It was all about building up and slowly bringing my legs into the equation. The other girls have much stronger upper bodies than me, so I’m like, what can I bring to the table? Legs. It did hurt physically but I remember I took one breath and I saw I was ahead of one American girl next to me and it gave me the extra boost of energy that I needed.”
Her career total now stands at 13 medals (6 gold, 4 silver, 3 bronze), bolstered by bronze in the 50 free on Day 1, followed by silver in the 100 on Monday. She wasn’t satisfied with less than gold, however, and called dealing with those mixed feelings in preparation for the 400 “honestly the hardest mental challenge so far in my life probably.”
“There’s nothing wrong with silver and bronze but to me the performance that I gave was disappointing. It was not what I expected out of my preparation. I have high expectations of myself time-wise. I wanted the gold in both events so to me it was a disappointment,” Rivard said “The biggest challenge I had and also what I wanted after the 100 free was to not let those two performances define the rest of my meet but also the preparation that I put into this meet. The 400 is my event. It’s what I trained for and I didn’t want to be beaten in advance because it didn’t go the way I wanted in the beginning of the week.
“I think that’s what makes me the most proud right now to come out with the gold. It wasn’t a perfect race and I’m OK with that. I kind of let go of that idea of how things had to perfect because they don’t at the end of the day.”
The last Canadian swimmer to win gold at three straight Paralympic Games, and also the last to win the same event at three straight Games, is Stephanie Dixon, crowned in the 100 backstroke S9 in 2000, 2004 and 2008.
Rivard relished her moment on the podium as O Canada played in Paris La Défense Arena.
“I kept catching the eyes of my parents on the side and was like ‘don’t look, don’t look, don’t look,’ because I knew it was going to make me cry. I was really just trying to stay in the moment, enjoying being on the highest step,” she said. “This one is extra special. It’s one thing to be young and chase a gold medal, but to defend a title is harder each time. It’s hard to find little ways to beat yourself and I’m not easy to beat, I know all my tricks. You also have to beat your own expectations which is probably the hardest part, the pressure I was putting on myself. I know everything I put into this race the last few days and the last few years.”
In the first race of the session, Routliffe got Canada started with a third-place finish. Her time of 1:31.58 was good for third in the women’s 100-m breaststroke SB7, behind neutral Paralympic athlete Mariia Pavlova (1:26.09) and Great Britain’s Iona Winnifrith (1:29.69).
Routliffe, the reigning two-time world champion in the event, placed fourth in her only previous Paralympic appearance, at Rio 2016. She now has three career Paralympic medals, after earning her second silver in the 200 IM on Saturday.
“I’m here to race and that’s exactly what I’m doing. I’m super happy to be here, I love getting in the pool and competing and racing the person next to me. I’m just happy I’m getting the chance to do that again,” said the 25-year-old, who trains at the High Performance Centre – Quebec in Montreal with coach Simon Deguire.
Routliffe also had multiple family members in the crowd, including her sister Erin Routliffe, a pro tennis player who flew in directly from competing at the U.S. Open in New York.
“It’s been eight years since I’ve been at a Games and there was a speedbump in the middle of that so it’s an even better feeling,” said Routliffe, who missed the Tokyo Games due to a severe back injury. “I’m definitely emotional just about being here and getting to race again. I think it’s just reminded me how much I love the sport.”
Canada’s other finalist Thursday was Mary Jibb, who finished seventh in the women’s 200 individual medley SM9. Her time of 2:41.70 was her second personal best of the day after qualifying fifth in 2:41.99.
“Tonight I wasn’t really expecting to be in a final,” said the 17-year-old Games rookie, who also set a personal best to finish fifth in the 100 backstroke Tuesday. “I was seeded 10th and I was going into finals fifth so that was a big shocker. I’m super happy with getting a second chance to race and dropping my best time.”
“I try to go PBs every single time I’m in the pool. If it happens, wonderful, but if it doesn’t I don’t get too down on myself because I learn from every experience that I get to race,” said Jibb, who is coached by Heather Lee at the Muskoka Aquatic Club.
Canada’s team of 22 Para swimmers have won ten medals in Paris (three gold, four silver, three bronze). That surpasses the total Canada won three years ago at the Tokyo 2020 Paralympics (three gold, three silver, two bronze), as well as the Rio 2016 Games (four gold, two silver, two bronze)
For full results please see https://olympics.com/en/paris-2024/paralympic-games/schedule/para-swimming?day=5-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.