Canada's Aurélie Rivard kicks off para swimming championships with gold
23-year-old from St-Jean-sur-Richelieu, Que., tops the podium in 50m freestyle S10
Canada's Aurélie Rivard added one more milestone to her remarkable resumé on Monday, thanks to a gold-medal performance in the 50-metre freestyle S10 on the opening night of the 2019 world para swimming championships in London.
The competition, which also serves as the first qualifying opportunity for Tokyo 2020, runs until Sunday with the finals streamed live daily on CBC Sports beginning at 1 p.m. ET.
Rivard's triumph on the first day marked her 10th podium finish in her fourth career appearance at the event, dating back to her debut at age 14 in 2010. She now has three world titles to her name, after being crowned in the 50 and 400 free in 2015.
"I feel old. I'm treated like a senior citizen on this team," joked the 23-year-old from St-Jean-sur-Richelieu, Que. "It's amazing to think it's been almost 10 years since my first world championships."
The two-time Paralympian won gold in the evening with a time of 27.86 seconds. Crowd favourite Zara Mullooly of Great Britain, who took silver in 28.22.
WATCH | Aurélie Rivard claims 50m freestyle gold:
"It's a good start on the medal front. It was a much tighter race than I had anticipated, but I'm obviously very happy I won," said Rivard.
In claiming gold, Rivard earned herself a nomination to the Canadian Paralympic Committee to represent Canada in Tokyo next summer.
WATCH | Complete action from Day 1:
