Canadian para-swimmer Aurélie Rivard got her meet off to a great start by capturing a bronze medal in the women’s S10 50-metre freestyle on Thursday evening at the Paris La Defense Arena.

The 28-year-old, a five-time Paralympic freestyle champion, clocked in at 27.62 seconds in her first race of the Games, adding another medal to her growing legacy and tying Canadian wheelchair track star Brent Lakatos for 11 Paralympic medals.

Despite facing fierce competition, the 19-time World Para Swimming Championships medalist managed to secure a podium finish, earning the second medal for Canada in the 2024 Paris Paralympics. 

Rivard, who claimed two gold and five total medals in Tokyo three years ago, held the world’s fastest times in the 50, 100 and 400-metre freestyle in the women’s S10 classification until this race.

She told Swim Canada that the 50, not being her best event, was a nice way to start the Games.
 
“It’s an ice-break event,” said the 28-year-old. “It gave me a great idea of the shape I’m in. I know what I’m capable of doing. 
 
“Regardless of the result, even if I would have broken the world record and won gold, I would have to put this behind me and move on to the next race.”

Chen Yi won gold for China in a world-record time of 27.10 seconds by surpassing the previous S10 world record set by Rivard eight years ago at the Rio Paralympics.

American Christie Raleigh-Crossley, who set the 50-meter freestyle S9 world record earlier today, finished just ahead of Rivard with a time of 27.38 seconds and took silver in the S10 event. 

This marked a strong start for the Saint-Jean-sur-Richelieu, Que. native, she will race three more events later in her fourth Paralympic game, including the 100-metre backstroke, also the 100 and 400-metre freestyle.