Katarina Roxon had a strong start on Friday in the women’s 100m breaststroke (SB8) but was unable to keep up to a sparkling pace, eventually finishing eight in the final.
The 31-year-old was sitting fifth coming down the pool for the first time, and would make the turn in seventh.
Spain’s Anastasiya Dmytriv Dmytriv took gold, silver was Brock Whiston, of Britain, with bronze going to Russian Viktoria Ishchiulova, swimming for the NPA (Neutral Paralympic Athietes, a delegation representing her home country, and Belarus).
Roxon advanced to the medal round after her third place finish in the earlier qualifying round, but she was unable to improve on her time.
She was not happy with the day overall.
“It’s a tough one,” said the four-time world championship medallist in the event, to Swim Canada. “The breaststroke is the most technical stroke there is. I’ve been struggling a little bit with it.
“That’s life. You learn from every experience. I’ve always said you can always learn and keep improving.”
Roxon began swimming at five years old because her parents believed it was an essential skill. Her Paralympic debut came as a 15-year-old in Beijing 2008, and the Newfoundlander has two Paralympic medals to her name, gold in 2016 and bronze in 2022.
She is the first Canadian female swimmer to compete in five Paralympic games, and holds the women’s 100m breastroke Canadian lap record, leading her to earn the honour of flag bearer during the opening ceremony on Wednesday.
Roxon will swim her next individual event, the 200m individual medley, next Thursday.
