Parents of Paralympians brace for emotion, excitement in Rio

RIO DE JANEIRO — While Canadian Paralympians gathered in the Maracana Stadium for the opening ceremony of the Rio 2016 Paralympic Games, proud parents were watching from afar at Canada Paralympic House, a home away from home for friends and family in Barra de Tijuca.

For mothers, fathers, brothers and sisters of the 162-member Canadian squad, the imminent start of competition can bring its own stress and pressures. The parents of swimming star Aurélie Rivard and rookie teammate Sabrina Duchesne sat together tonight to share their nervous excitement.

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For Sabrina's father, Sylvain Duchesne, who flies a lot for work, it took some time and watching the Opening Ceremony to get his head around being in Rio to watch his daughter compete.

"It was kind of a different flight yesterday," said Duchesne. "I think I feel the excitement now. I don't know if it's an excuse but I only really realized everything this afternoon. OK, I'm here. Let's go."

At just 15, Duchesne is the second youngest member of the swimming roster and a dark horse at her first Paralympics. The St-Augustin, Que. native will race on Thursday in the pool, swimming the 400-metre freestyle in the S8 category.

Rivard's parents, now at their second Paralympic Games with their daughter Aurélie, have been through this drill before. They support from afar, keeping in touch while Aurélie is cocooned in the Paralympic Athlete Village and preparing for some of the biggest races of her career.

"If she needs to talk, we talk," says mother Nadine. "Sometimes she tells us she doesn't want to talk."

Rivard, who had a breakout performance at London 2012 with a silver medal in the 400 freestyle, will take to the water Rio for her first race on Friday, in the S10 50 freestyle.

The two sets of swim parents first met at the Parapan Am Games in Toronto last summer but haven't spent much time together since. Sitting at the same table in Rio tonight, Nadine said jokingly of their reunion, "what a coincidence!"

Duchesne's sister is also in Rio and Rivard's family support crew will total 11 by the time her twin sister Charlotte arrives later this week.

Asked how they plan to decompress in between trips to the Aquatic Stadium, both couples had only one response: "the beach!"

With co-operation from the Canadian Paralympic Committee