Dorris triumph highlights three-medal night for Canada at Para worlds

SINGAPORE (Swimming Canada) – This time, Danielle Dorris just wouldn’t be denied.
 
A day after relinquishing her 100-metre backstroke world title from Manchester 2023, the 23-year-old from Moncton, N.B., defended her gold medal in the women’s 50 butterfly-m S7 on Thursday at the World Para Swimming Championships.
 
Her triumph was part of Canada’s first three-medal day of the week at Singapore’s OCBC Aquatic Centre as Katie Cosgriffe of Burlington, Ont., and Nicholas Bennett of Parksville, B.C., claimed bronze in the women’s 100 fly S10 and the men’s 200 individual medley SM14.
 
The delegation’s podium count now stands at eight (2-1-5) with two days left in the competition.
 
“It feels fantastic. I’m really happy that I was able to defend my title once again,” said Dorris, who is also the reigning two-time Paralympic champion and world record holder in the event. “It’s always a lot of fun racing these girls. I couldn’t have asked for a better night.
 
“It definitely never gets old. I could see myself doing this for a few more years.”
 
It was a third straight world title for Dorris in the 50 fly, making her only the third Canadian in history to win the same event at three consecutive WPS championships.
 
Benoît Huot was crowned four straight times in the men’s 200 IM SM10 from 2002 to 2013, a feat matched by Aurélie Rivard in the women’s 50 and 100 free S10 from 2015 to 2023.
 
“Being able to be on par with people like Aurélie and Benoît is fantastic. I first met them when I was 13 going to my first Games in Rio, and here I am 10 years later, still going. It’s amazing.”
 
Dorris’ latest victory in her marquee event didn’t come easy.
 
While the Canadian led from start to finish en route to a championship record time of 33.93, a familiar foe, Mallory Weggemann from the United States, was on her heels the entire way and finished just 32 hundredths of a second behind, in 34.25.
 
Weggeman was also a runner-up to Dorris at each of the last two Paralympic Games.
 
“I did,” said the victor from the Codiac Vikings Aquatic Club, when asked if she was aware of how close the race was. “I could see Mallory in my peripherals pretty much the entire time. I was very nervous that she was going to come up and catch me, but I just pushed on through and was able to pull it off in the end.”
 
Dorris, who took silver in Wednesday’s 100 back, now has eight career medals at worlds (4-3-1), good for fifth place all-time among Canadian women.
 
In the women’s 100 fly S10 final, Cosgriffe, who had lowered her own national mark to 1:06.46 in the morning preliminaries, clocked 1:05.82 to break the previous Americas standard of 1:06.28 set in 2019 by the USA’s Mikaela Jenkins.
 
Her time would have won Paralympic gold last summer in Paris.
 
A year after claiming bronze in the French capital in her Games debut, the 19-year-old was ecstatic to repeat the feat and capture her first career medal at worlds.  
 
“It’s pretty incredible,” said Cosgriffe, who represents Wilfrid Laurier University and the Oakville Aquatic Club. “I knew I had a shot at medalling going into this but I didn’t want to focus on the medal. I had a very good time this morning and I knew I wanted to improve off of that, hopefully break the Americas record.”
 
Right after coming out of the water following her morning swim, Cosgriffe predicted she would set an Americas record in the evening.
 
“This morning I definitely cruised a little bit. I wanted to stay in control. But after the race I realized I went out way too slow. That’s why I knew I had so much left in the tank.” 
 
Third at the turn in the final with a .04 lead over Australia’s Jasmine Greenwood, Cosgriffe managed to hang on to edge her rival by two hundredths. Defne Kurt of Türkiye prevailed in 1:03.91 to upset Faye Rogers, the reigning Paralympic and defending world champion, who settled for silver in 1:03.94. 
 
“I’m super, super happy with how I raced this final,” said Cosgriffe. “I knew I was going to battle it out with the girl who came fourth. She’s an incredible swimmer. When I touched the wall, I saw my time and then I saw the three beside my name, and I just felt so relieved. I’m just super happy.”
 
In the men’s 200 IM SM14, Bennett settled for bronze after claiming gold at the last worlds and in Paris.
 
The 21-year-old from the Red Deer Catalina Swim Club posted a solid time of 2:06.30, the third fastest of his career, but the two opponents who touched the wall before him both went under his world record time of 2:05.97 from the 2024 Canadian Trials.
 
Brazil’s Gabriel Bandeira, the 2022 world titlist, triumphed in 2:05.40, with Rhys Darbey, the 2024 Paralympic silver medallist from Great Britain, following in 2:05.84.    
 
“It stings a little bit of course to see my world record broken. But, you know, it just shows that there’s always room for improvement even when you’re at the top in your event,” said Bennett, who also claimed bronze in the 200 free earlier this week.
 
“Right now, it hurts a little. But as I’ve been saying in recent weeks, these championships are just a stepping stone for the new Paralympic quad.”    
 
Despite his disappointment, Bennett became just the third Canadian male Para swimmer to win multiple medals at three straight world championships, joining Huot (1998, 2002, 2006, 2010) and Andrew Haley (1994, 1998, 2002).

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