Canadian Reid Maxwell (S8) took silver in a thrilling men’s 400m freestyle final at the 2024 Paralympics, on Wednesday.
After trading places with Italian Alberto Amodeo, Maxwell found himself 0.72 seconds behind heading into the final turn.
Amodeo would ultimately pull away and claim gold in 4:23.23 seconds, while Maxwell finished 0.67 seconds behind at 4:23.90, nipping neutral athlete Andrei Kikolaev at the wall by a tenth.
Maxwell had led the pack through the first 200 metres.
Wednesday’s second place finish was the 17-year-old’s first Paralympic medal, and he set an Americas record with his time.
“I’ve always kind of dreamed to come here,” said Maxwell, to Swim Canada. “Being able to medal here is a whole other thing. That fight for the last 50 made it worth it. I’m happy with it.
“There’s been lots of steps along this journey. Tonight was a mental game going in. I felt confident. I’m super happy with how I performed.”
The St. Albert, Alta. native posted the fastest qualifying time of 4:25.95 seconds, in the morning session, and broke his own Canadian Paralympic record in that race.
The 400m final was his fourth event of the 2024 Paralympics, finishing ninth in the men’s 100m backstroke, 10th in the men’s 200m individual medley, and as part of the mixed 4x100m medley relay where Canada finished 8th.
Maxwell will race in two more events in Paris — the men’s 100m freestyle on Friday, and the men’s 100m butterfly on Saturday.
