Canada's Routliffe claims 4th medal of 2023 Para swimming worlds with 100m freestyle bronze
Canada's 19 medals at 2023 worlds in Manchester surpasses 2022's mark of 18
Tess Routliffe capped off a fantastic individual performance at the 2023 Para swimming world championships in Manchester, England, on Sunday with a bronze medal in the women's 100-metre freestyle S7 final for her fourth medal of the competition.
The Caledon, Ont., native collected a medal every other day at the week-long meet, striking gold in the 200m individual medley SM7 on Monday and in the 100m breaststroke SB7 on Wednesday before adding a silver in the 50m butterfly S7 on Friday.
''My coach and I recently put the 100 free on my list of races,'' she said. ''We've been working on it and really happy with where we are at. It's a fun race.
''These whole worlds make me really excited for Paris [2024 Paralympic Games].''
Routliffe, 24, was able to secure her first medal at a major international competition in the 100m freestyle event since 2015 by edging out Ukraine's Veronika Korzhova for bronze by 0.09 seconds with a time of 1:14.74.
American Morgan Stickney cruised to her second title of the 2023 worlds with a time of 1 minute and 9.29 seconds while Colombia's Sara Vargas Blanco claimed silver at 1:12.15.
WATCH | Routliffe wins 4th medal of 2023 worlds:
Routliffe was last on the podium in the 100m freestyle S7 when she won gold at the 2015 Parapan American Games in Toronto.
Sabrina Duchesne of Saint-Augustin-de-Desmaures, Que., placed fifth with a time of 1:15.25 for her second top-five finish of the week after the 22-year-old won bronze in the 400m freestyle S7 on Tuesday.
The medal was the 19th of the event for Canada (nine gold, four silver, six bronze), surpassing the nation's total of 18 at the 2022 worlds in Madeira, Portugal.
It's also the highest total for Canada since it won 21 at the 2010 worlds in Eindhoven, Netherlands.
Italy paced all nations with 26 gold medals at the 2023 worlds, while Ukraine's 55 total medals led all countries.
Roxon swims to bronze in 100m breaststroke
Katarina Roxon kicked off the final day in Manchester for Canada by winning bronze in the women's 100m breaststroke SB8 final with a time of 1:25.25, 5.24 seconds behind gold medallist Anastasiya Dmytriv Dmytriv of Spain. Ellen Keane of Ireland took silver.
''I really pushed and fixed a couple of things up from this morning,'' she said. ''One thing I remembered tonight was to have fun with it, just think of the technique, don't worry about the placings and time. Everything will fall into place.''
The 30-year-old from Kippens, N.L., won the event at the 2016 Paralympics Games as well as the 2015 Parapan American Games in Toronto.
WATCH | Roxon wins bronze in 100m breaststroke:
She has also won silver in the 100m breaststroke at the 2019 worlds in London and won bronze in the event at the 2015 worlds in Glasgow, United Kingdom, and the 2022 worlds in Madeira.
A day after winning her second gold medal of the 2023 worlds, Aurélie Rivard, 27, of Saint-Jean-sur-Richelieu, Que., placed sixth in the women's 100m backstroke S10 final with a time of 1:11.68, bested by 0.04 seconds by fellow Canadian Katie Cosgriffe, who finished fifth.
"I'm so proud of our team right now,'' Rivard said. "They really stepped up and I'm so happy to have a young S10 to racer in Katie with me. I'm really impressed and confident with the team heading into Paris and get that medal count higher than Tokyo.''
WATCH | Rivard swims to 2nd world title in Manchester:
It was the second top-five finish of the worlds for Cosgriffe of Burlington, Ont., as the 17-year-old placed fourth in the 100m butterfly S10 final on Friday.
Hungary's Bianka Pap cruised to her third gold medal of the competition with a time of 1:07.59, while Lisa Kruger of the Netherlands (1:09.85) and Anaelle Roulet of France (1:10.74) rounded out the podium.
Rivard later returned to the pool to combine with Routliffe, Zach Zona, 24, of Simcoe, Ont., and Philippe Vachon, 27, of Blainville, Que., for a seventh-place finish in the mixed 4x100m freestyle relay 34pts final with a time of 4:20.49.
Reigning world champion Italy won gold with a time of 4:03.25, while France (4:06.84) and Brazil (4:07.27) won silver and bronze respectively.
Multiple top-10 finishes for Canada on last day
Alexander Elliot of Kitchener, Ont., placed seventh in the men's 100m backstroke S10 final, which was won by Stefano Raimondi.
The 27-year-old Elliot recorded three top-10 finishes in Manchester, placing seventh in the 200m individual medley SM10, and ninth in the 100m butterfly S10.
Italy's Raimondi was the only competitor to clock in with under a one-minute time with a 59.40 finish en route to his fifth gold medal of the games, which trailed only his teammate Simone Barlaam's six for most gold medals at the 2023 worlds.
Saskatoon's Nikita Ens, 34, finished eighth in the women's 100m freestyle S3 final with a time of 2:32.99.
"First and foremost, I would like to express the utmost pride and admiration I have for this team,'' Canada's head coach Mike Thompson said. "It's been a transformative journey, marked not just by remarkable performances but also by profound personal growth. These athletes have shattered expectations, forming bonds stronger than we could have ever anticipated, transforming into something more than a collection of swimmers."
It was a tightly contested race between Spain's Marta Fernandez Infante and the United Kingdom's Ellie Challis, as the three-time Paralympic medallist Infante won gold with a time of 1:38.64, 3.28 seconds ahead of the 19-year-old Challis.
Brazil's Susana Schnarndorf won bronze with a time of 1:58.88.
Team Canada
- Nicholas Bennett — Parksville, B.C.
- Katie Cosgriffe — Burlington, Ont.
- Danielle Dorris — Moncton, N.B.
- Sabrina Duchesne — Saint-Augustin-de-Desmaures, Que.
- Alexander Elliot — Kitchener, Ont.
- Nikita Ens — Saskatoon
- Arianna Hunsicker — Surrey, B.C.
- James Leroux — Repentigny, Que.
- Angela Marina — Cambridge, Ont.
- Shelby Newkirk — Saskatoon
- Clémence Paré — Boucherville, Que.
- Aurélie Rivard — Saint-Jean-sur-Richelieu, Que.
- Tess Routliffe — Caledon, Ont.
- Katarina Roxon — Kippens, N.L.
- Jessica Tinney — Scarborough, Ont.
- Abi Tripp — Kingston, Ont.
- Jordan Tucker — Guelph, Ont.
- Nicolas-Guy Turbide — Quebec City
- Philippe Vachon — Blainville, Que.
- Aly Van Wyck-Smart — Toronto
- Zach Zona — Simcoe, Ont.
