Canadian record for Shelby Newkirk at Paralympic swimming trials

TORONTO – Shelby Newkirk of Saskatoon gained a huge dose of confidence Thursday breaking her Canadian record in the women’s S6 100-metre freestyle at the 2024 Olympic and Paralympic Trials.

The 27-year-old from Saskatoon clocked 1:13.68 and hopes to meet the A standard in her better events, including the 100 backstroke, this weekend and book a ticket to her second Paralympic Games

‘’I wanted to get to get a positive result,’’ said Newkirk, diagnosed with dystonia at age 13. ‘’My race in the prelims was more snappy so I decided to go for it in the final.’’

‘’It was definitely worth it.’’

S10 swimmer Aurélie Rivard of St-Jean-sur-Richelieu, Que., won the multi class race in1:00.19. Newkirk was ranked second and Arianna Hunsicker of Surrey, B.C. third.

It was a second ‘’A’’ standard swim for Rivard this week.

“I’m a little disappointed with the time tonight because I was hoping to go faster,” said Rivard, the reigning three-time world champion and two-time Paralympic champ in the event. “But, honestly, it was still a great experience. I’m looking forward to working on the details that I missed tonight to do better this summer.’’

Tess Routliffe of Caledon, Ont., was ranked fourth and lowered her S7 Canadian record to 1:12.95.

The rankings are based on the time’s relation to the world record in the racer’s category.

In the men’s multi class 100 freestyle, Reid Maxwell of St. Albert, Alta., broke the S8 Canadian record clocking 1:00.23.

‘’My goal was to go under a minute but I’m still happy with it,’’ said Reid, 16, who met the ‘’A’’ standard Wednesday in the 400 freestyle. ‘’I’m trying to break that barrier for what seems like forever now but I’m chipping away at it.’’

Massabie, a 19-year-old from Surrey, B.C., clocked 1:25.07, after setting a Canadian S4 record of 1:23.88 in the morning preliminaries.

After four days of competition, nine Para swimmers (three men and six women) have beaten the A standard. Canada is allocated spots for seven men and 15 women for the Games.

The seven-day competition runs through Sunday at the Toronto Pan Am Sports Centre, with the Canadian teams for Paris 2024 set to be announced officially at the end of the final evening.

The trials are being carried live on CBC.ca . Preliminaries are at 9:30 a.m. and finals at 6 p.m. ET each day.

QUALIFIED FOR NOMINATION (“A” qualifying time): PARIS 2024 PARALYMPIC GAMES (after Day 4 of Trials)