Parksville swimmer Nicholas Bennett has earned another silver medal at the 2022 World Para Swimming Championships in Madeira, Portugal.
The 18-year-old finished second in the men’s 200-metre individual medley S14 race on Day 5 of the competition to pair the silver medal he won on opening night in the 200 free in a time of 1:54.41 to break his own Canadian record. This is his first world championships.
In the 200 IM race, Bennett was fourth at the midway point but moved up to second place thanks to a sensational breast stroke en route to a time of 2:10.23, a mere one-hundredth of a second from his own national standard. He finished behind Tokyo Paralympics silver medallist Gabriel Bandeira of Brazil, whose winning time of 2:07.50 is a a new world record.
READ MORE: Parksville swimmer Bennett sets four Canadian records at national trials
“Of course I was hoping to get a national record, maybe go under 2:10.00, but I can’t be disappointed with a silver medal. I’m very happy,” said the Ravensong Breakers swim club member in Qualicum Beach, who placed seventh in Tokyo in the 200 IM. “Breaststroke just comes as a second nature. You just have to hit it as fast as you can. And then freestyle, you just give everything you got.”
Bennett then joined the Canadian Canada’s mixed 4x100m IM relay S14 team that included Tyson MacDonald, Justine Morrier, and Angella Marina. They finished in fifth place overall and set a Canadian record time of 4:29.96.
In another coed race, Bennett joined MacDonald, Marina and Emma Grace Van Dyk in the mixed 4×100 freestyle S14 relay when they just missed the bronze in a time of 3:58.43. It marked Canada’s first-ever participation in an S14 relay at world championships.
In the men’s 100 breast SB14, Bennett, who now trains at HPC-Quebec, matched his Paralympic result from Tokyo with a fifth-place finish in 1:06.16.
Michael.Briones@pqbnews.com