Canadian swimmer Nicholas Bennett captured the country’s first gold medal at the Paris Paralympics on Monday in the men’s SB14 100-metre breaststroke.
The 20-year-old clocked a time of one minute 3.98 seconds at Paris La Défense Arena.
It’s Bennett’s second medal of these Games after winning silver on Saturday in the men’s S14 200m freestyle final.
“It’s still hard to believe. Doing amazing in front of all of these people, it’s just hard to describe how I’m feeling right now,” Bennett told CBC Sports’ Benoît Huot poolside after the race.
Bennett, who lives with autism, was born in Parksville, B.C., but now lives and trains in Red Deer, Alta.
WATCH | Bennett wins gold medal:
Nicholas Bennett of Parksville, B.C., claimed Canada’s first gold medal at Paris 2024, and his first-career Paralympic gold medal, by winning the men’s 100-metre breaststroke SB14 final. It’s Bennett’s second medal in Paris, as he swam to silver two days earlier.
Having posted the fourth-fastest qualifying time, the Canadian appeared to be in tough racing out of Lane 6, two over from world-record holder Naohide Yamaguchi of Japan.
And at the halfway point, things seemed to be playing out as expected as Yamaguchi touched the 50-metre mark first with Bennett more than a half-second behind.
But Bennett had more left in the tank. He made his move over the final 30 metres, and by the time he touched the 100-metre mark, he was comfortably in first place.
“It’s amazing. I saw Yamaguchi ahead, I just had to get him,” Bennett said.
Yamaguchi fell to the bronze-medal position in 1:04.94, while Australian Jake Michel set an Oceania-record time of 1:04.27 to snag silver.
WATCH | Bennett reacts to victory:
Nicholas Bennett of Parksville, B.C. speaks with CBC Sports’ Benoît Huot after winning his first-career Paralympic gold medal, and Canada’s first gold medal in Paris.
Bennett said he felt as though he might have taken qualifying a bit too lightly — but the strategy paid off.
“Compared to this morning, I took it way too easy. But it allowed be to come back even harder tonight,” he told Huot.
Three years ago in Tokyo, Bennett made his Paralympic debut as the youngest athlete on Team Canada at 17 years old. While he did not reach the podium then, he told CBC Sports in March it was a vital learning experience.
“I just gained the feeling of how the call room works or how everybody kind of prepares for it and also how everybody races at that really, really high level just for that really short period of time,” he said.
Bennett placed fifth, sixth and seventh across three races in Tokyo. A year later at worlds, he grabbed a pair of silver medals. At the 2023 world championships, he upgraded to two gold medals and one silver.
By his side through it all was Bennett’s sister and coach, Haley Bennett.
“I don’t think I would be the athlete I am without her,” he said after his first medal in Paris.
Not only did Bennett’s victory mark the first for Canada in Paris — it also represented Canada’s 400th gold medal all-time at the Summer Paralympics.
Also Monday, three-time Paralympian Sabrina Duchesne of St-Augustin, Que., finished sixth in the women’s S7 400m freestyle final, while Nicolas Guy Turbide of Quebec City was seventh in the men’s S13 50m freestyle.
Beyond the podium, Bennett has said he hopes to inspire others with autism.
“I just want people to look at people like me with autism and see like, ‘Huh, they can really do anything if they have the right backing,'” he said in March. “We just need support and help to reach these heights.”
WATCH | Bennett joins CBC Sports after 1st medal in Paris:
Nicholas Bennett joins Brian Hnatiw to talk about winning his first Paralympic medal, a silver, and how he feels heading into his next events.