Swimming Canada celebrates Para past, present and future at Bell Swimming Trials

Photos courtesy of Swimming Canada

MONTREAL— One of Canada’s most accomplished Paralympic athletes, Benoît Huot, was officially inducted into Swimming Canada’s Circle of Excellence on Wednesday, recognizing a remarkable career that transformed Paralympic swimming in Canada.

The ceremony launched a big day at the Bell Swimming Trials for Para swimmers as later on in competition rising star Reid Maxwell and two-time Paralympian Shelby Newkirk broke Canadian records.

For more than two decades, Huot redefined excellence in the pool while becoming one of the world’s leading voices for the Paralympic movement. His record-setting performances, leadership and advocacy elevated Para swimming and inspired generations of Canadians.

One of the most decorated athletes in Paralympic history, the Longueuil, Que., native retired in 2019 with 20 Paralympic medals over five Games, along with 32 world championship medals, 12 Parapan American Games medals, four Commonwealth Games medals, and setting more than 60 world records.

“Benoît is one of the most celebrated Paralympians our country has ever produced, but his legacy extends far beyond the medals and records he achieved in the pool,” said Suzanne Paulins, chief executive officer of Swimming Canada. “He inspired generations of swimmers, elevated the Paralympic movement in Canada, and became an incredible ambassador for our sport.”

Born with club foot, Huot joined Canada’s national Para swimming team in 1998 and spent 21 years helping transform perceptions of Paralympic sport.

“Let’s continue to dream with the objective of seeing the Paralympic gold medal worth the same in everyone’s eyes around the world as the Olympic gold,” Huot said.

Canadian records for Maxwell and Newkirk

Canada`s top Para swimmers also dove into the spotlight on Wednesday evening at the trials with Reid Maxwell,of St. Albert, Alta., clocking a Canadian record time of 27.78 in the men’s 50m freestyle final.

The 18-year-old touched the wall just one hundredth of a second under Michael Diering’s Canadian S9 record that has stood since 2012. Maxwell’s performance earned him a fifth place in the multiclass race.

“It’s kind of weird, to be honest. I haven’t raced as an S9 in about three years, so breaking an S9 record is definitely a strange thing for me,” said Maxwell, who relocated to Montreal last fall and trains at CAMO club. “I’ll swim as an S9 at the Commonwealth Games, so maybe I can break another record there.”

Maxwell’s record swim added to an already strong Trials as he triumphed in the 100m and 400m free multiclass events earlier this week. 

“This week’s been kind of off a little bit despite some good results. I haven’t been feeling great,” Maxwell said. “Tonight I just wanted to give it my all. So, I’m very happy with that race.”

Shelby Newkirk, a two-time Paralympian from Saskatoon, also rewrote the record books on Day 4, lowering her own S5 national mark to 1:57.71 in the women’s 100m breast multiclass final. She finished the event in fourth place overall.

‘’My coach and I were talking this morning about that Canadian record,’’ Newkirk told CBC. ‘’We looked at the times this morning , we’re like there’s a couple of things we can speed up. ‘’I went out really fast, wasn’t sure I could hold that but really happy with the time in the end.’’

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Paris 2024 Paralympian Fernando Lu, of Burnaby, B.C. (Olympians Swimming), topped the 50m free multiclass podium with a time of 24.44 for his second victory of the week. Lu also snagged the gold medal in the 100m butterfly on Sunday. 

Other winners Wednesday were Aurélie Rivard, of Saint-Jean-sur-Richelieu, Que. (Club de Natation Région de Québec), captured the women’s 50m freestyle title, Tess Routliffe, of Caledon, Ont. (Université Laval / HPC-Montreal), claimed the women’s 100m breast crown, and Nicholas Bennett, of Parksville, B.C. (HPC–Quebec), won the men’s 100m breast.

More than 680 athletes are competing at the five-day event which ends Thursday and is used to select several Canadian squads including the one for the Para Pan Pacific Championships (Aug. 28-30 in Walnut, Calif.).

CBC Gem, CBC Sports  and ICI TOU.TV stream each session beginning at 9:30 a.m. ET for heats and 5:30 p.m. ET for finals.