World record for Nicholas Bennett at Canadian Paralympic swimming trials

TORONTO – Nicholas Bennett of Parksville, B.C., broke the world record in the men’s S14 200-metre individual medley on Friday at the Para swimming Paralympic Games trials.

Bennett, the reigning world champion in the event, clocked two minutes and 05.97 seconds for the victory in the multiclass race. That smashed the previous world mark of 2:07.50 set by Gabriel Bandeira of Brazil at the 2022 world championships.

‘’I don’t think I have the words right now to express how overwhelmingly positive this makes me feel,’’ said Bennett, a 2020 Paralympian, who has now met the ‘’A’’ standard in two events. That standard is a requirement to be considered for nomination to the 2024 Paralympic Games team.

‘’I figured I could take a couple of tenths off it (the world mark) after the preliminaries but a whole second and half puts me ahead of schedule.’’

The S14 class is for athletes with an intellectual disability. Bennett, 20, was diagnosed at age three with autism spectrum disorder. He is coached by his sister Haley Bennett in Red Deer, Alta. At the worlds last year in Manchester, Bennett also won gold in the 200 freestyle and silver in the 100 breaststroke.

‘’My sister always says make sure my backstroke tempo is up and then just hammer it down for the last 100 in the freestyle,’’ he said. “This is my first actual Paralympic trials. The last cycle, we didn’t have one. So it’s like a completely new experience.’’

Alexander Elliot of Kitchener, Ont., beat the S10 ‘’A’’ standard in the race clocking 2:17.26 to put himself in position for a third Paralympics. Reid Maxwell of St. Albert, Alta., broke his fourth Canadian record this week with his 2:31.03 for the S8 class.

Also achieving Para swimming “A” qualifying times on Friday was Tess Routliffe of Caledon, Ont.,  in the women’s 200 IM SM7 with a national record 2:54.78,

“It went as well as I think it could have. I’m thrilled with that time,” said Routliffe, the reigning world champion and 2016 Paralympic silver medallist in the event . “It’s exactly what we wanted to do, exactly what we came here for.

“There’s no words for qualifying for Paralympic Games. I mean, it’s been eight years since I’ve been to my last one, and my last one was my first one,” added Routliffe, who missed Tokyo 2020 due to a back injury.

Hannah Ouellet of Saskatoon in the women’s 200 IM SM5 (4:23.08), and Sebastian Massabie of Surrey, B.C., in the men’s 50 backstroke S4 (53.74), also set national marks but fell short of the “A” time.

After five days of competition, 10 Para swimmers (four 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 Olympic and Paralympic 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 5 of Trials)