PARIS – Winning a bronze medal in her first Paralympic Games was surreal for Katie Cosgriffe.
The Burlington. Ont., swimmer outbattled Australia’s Jasmine Greenwood to finish third in the 100-m S10 butterfly Tuesday in Paris. She touched the wall in 1:07.22, just .13 ahead of the Australian.
“I’ve had this in my mind for a while,” said the 18-year-old. “I knew this was always a possibility, but I didn’t see it actually happening. The fact now it’s real, I’m really happy how it went.
“I’m not overly (happy) with my time but I can’t complain about that because I won a medal.”
British swimmers took gold and silver. Faye Rogers won in 1:05.84 just .57 ahead of Callie-Ann Warrington.
The last 18 months have been a whirlwind for Cosgriffe. She received her international classification in April 2023 and competed at the 2023 Para Swimming World Championships where she had a fourth- and a fifth-place finishes.
“My dreams in sport shifted pretty quick,” said Cosgriffe, who was diagnosed in 2021 with Charcot-Marie-Tooth disease, which causes sensations, and loss of normal functions, in the feet, arms, hands and legs.
“It was pretty sudden for me to find out I could go to the Paralympics. My goal has been on this race. Now that I’m actually here it’s surreal.”
In the seconds before the race began a loud “let’s go Katie” could be heard at the Paris La Défense Arena.
“It was my dad,” said Cosgriffe, who trains with coach Dave Tontini at the Oakville Aquatic Club. “I always hear him regardless of where he is and where I am. I’m really grateful to have his support here.”
Earlier Wednesday two other Canadian teenagers showed their Paralympic potential.
First 17-year-old Mary Jibb swam two personal bests to finish fifth in the 100-m S9 backstroke then Sebastian Massabie, 19, broke his Canadian record twice and was sixth in the 200-m S4 freestyle.
Jibb’s time of 1:12.33 in the 100 back shaved .59 off the personal best she posted to finish sixth in the morning preliminaries.
“I’m super happy with how I performed,” said Jibb, who is coached by Heather Lee at the Muskoka Aquatic Club. “Now I’m a Paralympian and that’s pretty cool to say.”
Jibb credited a good race plan for her solid result.
“We had to change up the race plan a bit from this morning, so I didn’t fatigue as much on the back end,” she said. “I think we executed that very well.”
Jibb is back in the pool Wednesday in the 100 freestyle.
Massabie broke his Canadian record in the morning preliminaries then sliced another three seconds off it in the final of the 200 freestyle. Massabie swam 3:02.28 to finish fourth in the preliminaries then was clocked in 2:59.15 in the final.
It was the fourth time the Surrey, B.C., native broke a Canadian record in Paris. He lowered his own national mark twice to finish fifth on the 100-freestyle Friday.
Jy Lawrence, who coaches Massabie at the Pacific Sea Wolves, said getting under the three-minute barrier in the 200 free was the goal.
“It’s a huge milestone,” said Lawrence. “It’s really a commitment from him on the effort and intensity. He’s done a really good job in training. This is just a reflection of the training.”
Massabie said he was happy with the result and is looking forward to Friday’s 50-m freestyle.
“I’m excited about that,” said Massabie, who holds the Canadian record of 38.03 seconds. “From what I can tell, I may have a chance at that one.”
Alexander Elliot of Kitchener, Ont., finished eighth in the 100-m S10 butterfly in 1:00.75.
“I worked hard from the first stroke to the last stroke, but it just wasn’t there tonight,” he said.
The 28-year-old, who trains at Club de natation Région de Quebec with coach Marc-André Pelletier, has qualified for the 100 fly final in each of his three Paralympic appearances, placing fifth at Tokyo 2020 and fourth in Rio 2016.
“It’s one of my favourites to swim and I’m happy I made the final here and got to swim it again,” said Elliot.
Canadian Para swimmers have won six medals in Paris.
Nicholas Bennett of Parksville, B.C, won gold in the 100-m SB14 breaststroke plus took silver and broke his own Canadian record in the S14 200-m freestyle.
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.
Both Bennett and Routliffe will be looking to add to their medal haul Wednesday.
Bennett swims the S14 200 IM, an event in which he holds the world record and is the reigning world champion. He could become the first Canadian man since Benoît Huot to win multiple gold medals at a Paralympics.
Huot won five gold at the Athens 2004 Paralympics. He also was the last Canadian man to win three medals with a gold, silver and bronze in London 2012.
Routliffe, Shelby Newkirk of Saskatoon and Sabrina Duchesne of Saint-Augustin, Que., will race the 100-m S7 freestyle. Routliffe was third in the race at the 2023 Manchester Para Swimming World Championships and holds the Canadian record of 1:12.95.
Reid Maxwell of Edmonton and Phillipe Vachon of Blainville, Que., will compete in the S8 400-m freestyle. Maxwell holds the Canadian record of 4:28.20.
Abi Tripp of Kingston, Ont., will race in the S8 400-m freestyle, in which she set the Canadian record of 5:16.25 at the Rio 2016 Paralympics.
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=3-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.