Canada's Rivard successfully defends 100m freestyle title at Para swimming worlds
Fellow Canadian Dorris wins silver in women's 50m freestyle S7 for 4th medal of meet
Aurélie Rivard and Danielle Dorris continued to stack medals for Canada at the Para swimming world championships in Manchester, England, on Saturday.
The highly decorated Rivard, 27, added her second gold medal of the meet in the women's 100m freestyle S10 final after securing her first on Monday in the 50m freestyle S10 final. Rivard also won both events at last year's worlds in Madeira, Portugal.
The Saint-Jean-sur-Richelieu, Que., native clocked a time of 59.97 seconds on Saturday, remaining as the only woman to record a time below one minute this year. Rivard holds the world-record time of 58.14 in the event, which she set at the 2020 Paralympics in Tokyo.
"I'm very happy to successfully defend my world title for another year," said Rivard, who also won the event in 2019. "The time is a little slower than I thought but again it's the first time I've gone under a minute all season. I just take it as a step towards Paris [the 2024 Paralympic Games]."
WATCH | Rivard swims to 2nd world title in Manchester:
Rivard trailed France's Emeline Pierre by 0.07 seconds after the first leg of the race, but kicked it up a notch in the last 50 metres to finish atop the podium, 1.01 seconds clear of silver medallist Maria Paula Barrera Zapata of Colombia, and 1.16 seconds ahead of third-place finisher Bianka Pap of Hungary.
Twenty-one-year-old Arianna Hunsicker of Surrey, B.C., finished eighth with a time of 1:03.52.
Rivard has now won six gold medals over her career at the world championships to go along with five at the Paralympics and six at the Parapan American Games. Her total medal haul across the three competitions is 31 (17 gold, nine silver, five bronze), 14 of which are from the world championships.
She will get a chance to add to her total on Sunday in the 100m backstroke S10, an event she won silver in at the 2020 Paralympics and bronze in at the 2022 worlds.
Watch live coverage of the final of competition on CBCSports.ca, the CBC Sports app and CBC Gem, with action resuming on Sunday at 4:05 a.m. ET with the Day 7 heats.
Dorris impresses in 50m freestyle
Dorris, a two-time Paralympian from Moncton, N.B., claimed silver in the women's 50m freestyle S7 final — her first time racing internationally in the event — finishing with a time of 33.99 seconds, just 0.98 seconds shy of Colombian gold-medal winner Sara Vargas Blanco. Switzerland's Sabine Weber-Treiber took bronze with a time of 34.91.
The 20-year-old had already won three medals in Manchester, collecting gold medals in the 100m backstroke S7 final on Thursday and 50m butterfly S7 final on Friday, and bronze in the 200m individual medley SM7 final on Monday.
Dorris utilized her formidable butterfly stroke to win Saturday's race, which is her forte as the reigning S7 Paralympic champion and world-record holder (32.99).
"My fly is a lot faster than my freestyle right now by a solid two seconds," said Dorris, born missing a portion of both arms. "Doing the fly is the only thing I can do if I want to be in those medal positions. I'm confident in my ability to go fast and keep up with the others doing freestyle."
WATCH l Dorris claims team-leading 4th medal in Manchester:
Canada has won 17 medals in Manchester (nine gold, four silver and four bronze).
The 20-year-old got off to a fantastic start, pacing the eight-woman field for the first half of the race. Vargas Blanco caught the Canadian toward the end of the one-length race to win the title.
Saskatoon's Nikita Ens, 34, finished fifth in the women's 200m freestyle S3 final with a time of 5:05.93, her second top-five finish of the swimming worlds after finishing fifth in the 50m backstroke SB2 final on Monday.
Great Britain's Ellie Challis, 19, won her third gold-medal of the games - and fifth medal overall - with a commanding time of 3:35.20, while Brazil's Susana Schnarndorf won silver with a time nearly 43 seconds back of Challis, and American Leanne Smith took bronze.
Team Canada
- Nicholas Bennett — Parksville, B.C.
- Katie Cosgriffe — Burlington, Ont.
- Danielle Dorris — Moncton, N.B.
- Sabrina Duchesne — Saint-Augustin-de-Desmaures, Que.
- Alexander Elliot — Kitchener, Ont.
- Nikita Ens — Saskatoon
- Arianna Hunsicker — Surrey, B.C.
- James Leroux — Repentigny, Que.
- Angela Marina — Cambridge, Ont.
- Shelby Newkirk — Saskatoon
- Clémence Paré — Boucherville, Que.
- Aurélie Rivard — Saint-Jean-sur-Richelieu, Que.
- Tess Routliffe — Caledon, Ont.
- Katarina Roxon — Kippens, N.L.
- Jessica Tinney — Scarborough, Ont.
- Abi Tripp — Kingston, Ont.
- Jordan Tucker — Guelph, Ont.
- Nicolas-Guy Turbide — Quebec City
- Philippe Vachon — Blainville, Que.
- Aly Van Wyck-Smart — Toronto
- Zach Zona — Simcoe, Ont.
