Aurélie Rivard of Canada secured a bronze medal at the Para Pan Pacific Championships in Walnut, California. The 30-year-old, who has won 13 Paralympic medals, clinched third place in the women’s 400m freestyle final, competing against athletes from the S6-11 and S13 categories. Rivard, a three-time Paralympic champion in the S10 400 free event, garnered 933 points by finishing in 4 minutes 37.04 seconds.
The gold medal went to Australia’s Lakeisha Patterson, an S9 swimmer, who scored 986 points with a time of 4:40.35. Despite finishing first in 4:31.52, S10 American Ali Truwit only earned 971 points. Mary Jibb from Bracebridge, Ontario, placed eighth with 848 points in a time of 4:47.89.
Points in the competition are based on how close a swimmer’s time is to the world record standard for their classification. Rivard, who recently returned to international competition after a hiatus, expressed her mixed emotions about the race, stating that she believes she can still improve. In other Canadian results, Nicholas Bennett from Parksville, British Columbia, finished fourth in the men’s 100m breaststroke final.
The Para Pan Pacific Swimming Championships can be watched live on CBCSports.ca and CBC Gem, with Day 3 preliminaries starting at 12:30 p.m. ET and the final session at 8:30 p.m. ET.