Canada's Nicholas Bennett captures second Paralympic swim gold, Maxwell earns silver

PARIS — The work that produced Nicholas Bennett's first gold medal of the Paralympic Games was the key to his second.

The Canadian surged into the lead on the breaststroke leg of his 200-metre individual medley en route to victory Wednesday, and two days after his gold in the 100-metre breaststroke.

The 20-year-old from Parksville, B.C., is the first Canadian man to win multiple Paralympic gold medals in a single meet since Benoit Huot's five in Athens, Greece, in 2004.

Bennett touched the wall in a Paralympic record time of two minutes 6.05 seconds, which was two and a half seconds faster than silver medallist Rhys Darby of Britain.

"Being seven hundredths of a second off my world record, it's a success I'll say the least," Bennett said.

He captured his third medal in Paris after taking silver in 200 freestyle.

His roommate in the athletes' village captured a silver medal within minutes of Bennett's triumph. Reid Maxwell of St. Albert, Alta., duelled with Alberto Amodeo in the 400-metre freestyle and touched the wall six-tenths of a second back of the Italian.

"I've always kind of dreamed to just come here. Being able to medal is a whole other thing," Maxwell said. "That fight for the last 50 (metres), that made it worth it."

The 17-year-old is the youngest Canadian swimmer to win a Paralympic medal since Aurelie Rivard's silver in 2012 when she was 16.

"It's great to see another man to hit the podium and especially one so young," Bennett said.

Two Canadian men on the swim podium on the same night was the first time since 2008 when Huot and Donovan Tildesley were bronze medallists in Beijing.

Bennett was diagnosed with autism spectrum disorder at the age of three. He competes in the S14 classification for athletes with intellectual impairment.

He's coached by his sister Haley Bennett-Osborne. The siblings worked ceaselessly on his breaststroke over the last year.

As the reigning world champion and world-record holder, Bennett felt more confident for his medley final than he did for breaststroke.

He was third after butterfly and second after the backstroke legs, before taking over in breaststroke and putting the win away in freestyle.

"I was certainly a lot more comfortable racing tonight," Bennett said. "I knew there definitely was a chance to get close to my record, so it definitely reassuring.

"I didn't know if I was going to even medal in the breaststroke. Having a sense of certainty definitely calms the emotions, so I'm not bawling my eyes out right now."

But the tears he shed atop the podium during O Canada the first time returned for the second.

"It's an honour to be able to be wrapped around the flag and parade around with it," Bennett said.

Maxwell watched the end of his roommate's race from the ready room. He walked onto the La Defense Arena pool deck with Metallica's "Enter Sandman" playing in his headphones "which is definitely a good pre-race song," he said.

Racing fast in the morning heats with a little something in the tank left had the Paralympic rookie feeling bullish about the final.

"This morning felt super-strong," the teenager said. "I hit the wall and I could still catch my breath, so it definitely wasn't everything. This morning was long and strong and felt smooth and was a massive best time."

Maxwell, who was born missing his lower right leg and with abdominal muscle impairment, races the S8 classification. He had a quiet schedule over the six days of swimming with a pair of relay races.

He's now into the meat of his meet with relays Thursday and 100-metre butterfly and 100-metre freestyle before competition in the pool wraps Saturday.

Bennett likes taking photos on his travels and playing real-time strategy games online with his friends when he isn't in the pool. He's tempering his expectations for his last race in Friday's 100-metre backstroke.

"We'll see how that one goes. I find my backstroke is my weakest strong," he said. "The goal is to see what I can do on this stage, especially on Day 9. It's more of a gauge event than expecting to hit the podium."

With eight medals — two gold, four silver and two bronze — Canada's Paralympic swim team has equalled its total medal output in Tokyo three years ago, where it produced three gold, three silver and two bronze.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published Sept. 4, 2024.

Donna Spencer, The Canadian Press