Aurélie Rivard Aurélie Rivard

Aurélie Rivard has been a dominant force on Canada’s Para swimming team for over a decade and is now preparing for her fourth Paralympic Games at Paris 2024. She secured her spot by surpassing the A standard in three events (50m, 100m, and 400m freestyle) at the 2024 Para Swimming Trials.

Rivard’s illustrious career includes 19 world championship medals, making her the most decorated Canadian woman in Para swimming World Championships history. In three Paralympic appearances, she has won 10 medals, including five golds. At the Rio 2016 Paralympic Games, Rivard was a standout, winning gold in the 50m, 100m, and 400m freestyle, setting two world records, and serving as Canada’s flag-bearer for the Closing Ceremony.

At the 2019 World Para Swimming Championships in London, Rivard continued her success with five medals, including gold in the 50m and 100m freestyle S10, silver in the 400m freestyle S10, and bronze in the 100m backstroke S10 and the 4×100m freestyle relay. Her career total at that point reached 14 medals (4 gold, 6 silver, 4 bronze) from four world championship appearances.

Rivard has also set multiple world records, including in the 400m freestyle S10 at the Pan Pacific Para Swimming Championships in 2018 and twice in the S10 200m freestyle at the World Para Swimming World Series in Berlin. At the Gold Coast 2018 Commonwealth Games, she won a silver medal in the SM10 200m individual medley.

Her first major international breakthrough came at the 2012 London Paralympic Games, where she won a silver medal in the 400m freestyle at just 16 years old. Rivard has also been recognized as Swimming Canada’s Para Female Athlete of the Year multiple times.

Beyond swimming, Rivard is a law student at Université Laval in Quebec City. She has a twin sister, Charlotte, and her father, André Rivard, played as a goaltender in the Quebec Major Junior Hockey League. Rivard was discovered by coach France Latendresse, who has been instrumental in her development as a world-class athlete.