Breaking news! World record for Rivard; Canadian women in world goalball semis

BERLIN – Triple Paralympic Games champion Aurélie Rivard smashed her world record in the women’s 200-m freestyle on Thursday at the Para swimming World Series stop in Berlin. 

She clocked 2:10.57 in the morning to eclipse her previous S10 world mark of 2:10.98 set at this same venue in 2017. Then in the evening she delivered a sizzling 2:08.64.

Rivard and Tess Routliffe are the only two Canadians at the sixth and final stop on the circuit which concludes Sunday. Rivard is also in contention for the overall World Series women’s title.

Routliffe also posted a strong result Thursday placing fourth in the women’s 100-m breaststroke.

Canada wins OT thriller at world goalball championships

MALMO, Sweden – Emma Reinke scored the winner in overtime as Canada defeated Japan 3-2 in the women’s quarterfinals on Thursday at the goalball world championships. The Canadians rallied from a 0-2 deficit to reach the final four for the first time since 2010. The semifinals and final are on Friday and will be webcast live at http://www.wcg18.se/live-broadcast. 

‘’All we had to do is focus on our defence and not continue to make the same mistakes,’’ said team captain Whitney Bogart of Ottawa about Canada falling behind early. ‘’We knew the goals would come.’’

The Canadian women went 3-2 in the round robin portion of the tournament. 

On the men’s side, Canada was 1-5 and did not advance to the playoff round.