Canadian swimmer Nicolas-Guy Turbide finished seventh in the fiercely competitive men’s S13 50-metre freestyle final at the Paris Paralympics, on Sunday.

Belarusian Ihar Boki, representing the NPA (Neutral Paralympic Athletes, a delegation representing his home country, and Russia), claimed his fourth gold medal of the 2024 Games. 

The silver and bronze medals went to Ukrainian swimmers Illia Yaremenko, and Oleksii Virchenko, respectively.

The “splash and dash” final lived up to its name, with all eight swimmers separated by only 0.83 seconds.

However, the two-time Paralympic medalist Turbide was unable to break through to the top ranks in this final, clocked in at 24.40.

Earlier in the day, the Quebec City native delivered a solid performance in the qualifying round, finishing third to secure his spot in the medal round.

This was the only event in Paris for the Canadian swimming team co-captain, who is participating in his third Paralympic Games.

Turbide has faced significant challenges in recent years, battling lower back and neck injuries since 2019, forcing the veteran to step away from his prime event, the 100-metre backstroke. In that race he had previously won two Paralympic medals, and a gold at the 2022 World Para Swimming Championships, in Madeira.

The 27-year-old S13 visually impaired swimmer was out of the pool for five weeks after suffering a broken finger injury during a competition in his hometown last December.