(Paris) Already a triple medalist at the Paris Paralympic Games, Aurélie Rivard swam her fourth final on Friday at the Paris La Défense Arena. The Quebecer placed eighth in the 100m backstroke in the S10 category, the “bonus race” of her fourth Games, as she called it when she got out of the pool.
It’s rare to see the winner of 13 Paralympic medals take to the outside lane at the Paralympics. Her name was the first to be called on Friday, thanks to her seventh-place qualifying finish and time of 1:11.54, the result of an incomplete recovery from her Paralympic title in the S10 400m freestyle.
Rivard was among the leaders at the start of the race and it was after 25 meters that she began to lose ground.
“I was really tired when I woke up and with the schedule I had here, I knew it was going to be harder today (Friday),” she told Sportcom. “After the 400m, I wanted to see what I had left and race with the other girls. The goal was to swim faster than in qualifying and that’s what I did. It was a decent race.”
Eighth to touch the wall after her first length, the athlete from Saint-Jean-sur-Richelieu kept this ranking until the end. She posted a time of 1 min 11.05 s and was 3.08 seconds behind Hungarian Bianca Pap, who defended her title from the Tokyo Games. American Alexandra Truwit (+0.62 seconds) and Frenchwoman Émeline Pierre (+1.47 seconds) accompanied her on the podium.
Also in this final, Ontario’s Katie Cosgriffe finished fifth with a time of 1 min 9.56 s.
In 23 Paralympic events, this is only the fourth time that Aurélie Rivard has not finished among the five fastest. The last three times were at her first Games, in London, in 2012.
“The 100m backstroke is known to be extremely painful. I was trying to manage my energy knowing that I was going to give up in the middle. I felt it very quickly since I didn’t have time to recover 100% from the 400m freestyle,” she continued.
“I was trying to stay with the girls next to me, but I could feel my legs getting tighter and tighter. It was very difficult physically. The older I get, the more I realize the importance of recovery, but more importantly, the longer it takes me to recover properly.”
When she talks about the “bonus race,” Aurélie Rivard explains that she didn’t spend much time on this style in her preparation. Her expectations were more focused on the freestyle events, the ones where she won three medals in Paris. One of each color.
The co-captain of Canada’s Para swimming team called her bronze medal in the 50m freestyle and silver in the 100m freestyle a poor performance. She said she would have had a hard time turning the page if those results had come at previous Games. This time, though not without difficulty, she did.
“Every time I think the biggest challenge is done, it’s always worse the next time,” she said with a laugh. “I thought the biggest challenge was going to be Tokyo, but this year was very challenging,” she said. “The 400 freestyle redeemed everything and it gave me a lot of pride. I didn’t let my first two races define the rest of my competition and I took advantage of the experience.”
A second final for Alec Elliot
Alec Elliot had just competed in his second final of the Paris Paralympic Games when his teammates took to the field at the Paris La Défense Arena. The Kitchener native who trains in Quebec City was competing in the men’s S10 100m backstroke. He was the seventh to complete the distance and clocked a time of 1:04.85.
“It’s not what I expected. I was aiming a little faster than in qualifying,” said Alec Elliot, eighth in the morning in 1 min 4.41 s.
“I moved up one place in the standings, so I’m happy! I felt more pain tonight, more fatigue. I was a little nervous, but I wanted to have fun and do my best.”
Dutchman Olivier van de Voort won in 59.04 seconds, closely followed by Italian Stefano Raimondi (+0.25 seconds) and Australian Thomas Gallagher (+2.30 seconds).
Elliot also ranked 8the 100m butterfly and 9e 100m freestyle in his category in the French capital. He will complete his third Paralympic Games with the 200m medley and the 4x100m freestyle mixed relay 34 points on Saturday.