ParksvilleB次元官网网址檚 Nicholas Bennett recently set a new world para swimming record and achieved the feat competing against the worldB次元官网网址檚 best competitors at the 2022 FINA Swimming World Cup.
The 18-year-old, diagnosed with autism spectrum disorder when he was three, usually competes in the S14 category in para swimming. He qualified to compete at the world event and was invited to join Canada and the worldB次元官网网址檚 best at the championships, held recently in Toronto.
BennettB次元官网网址檚 coach and sister Hayley said they were on holiday when they receive a call from Swimming Canada.
B次元官网网址淲e were in California when we heard that he was selected for the world meet,B次元官网网址� said Hayley. B次元官网网址淲e were super surprised and super excited.B次元官网网址�
Hayley said they had to cut their vacation a couple of days short to get Nicholas back in the pool because at the time, he was tapering off from months of training at the Ravensong Aquatic Centre in Qualicum Beach.
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B次元官网网址淗eB次元官网网址檚 a para swimmer but heB次元官网网址檚 fast enough and is able to compete with people who are not para,B次元官网网址� said Hayley. B次元官网网址淗e has been selected as an alternate before and we were already surprised that he got selected for that.B次元官网网址�
Hayley, a former competitive swimmer and assistant coach for Team BC, became NicholasB次元官网网址檚 coach full-time when Canadian swimming coach Mike Thompson from the High Performance Centre in Quebec took a leave of absence from the program earlier this year.
The FINA Swimming World Cup was the first major competition Nicholas and Hayley attended together as a team.
B次元官网网址淭hat was exciting for both us,B次元官网网址� said Hayley. B次元官网网址淗e was swimming with (19-time world champion) Katie Ledecky in the same pool with him and he was in the same bus with Kyle Chalmers (world record holder in the 100-metre freestyle). It was unreal, the experience for the both of us. It was amazing because it was such a high-level of competition that we would normally not be a part of because heB次元官网网址檚 a para swimmer. It was just jaw-dropping.B次元官网网址�
Nicholas competed in the 200-metre freestyle and the 200m individual medley at the World Cup in Toronto. In the 200m free preliminaries, Nicholas posted a time of one minute, 51.40 seconds. Although the time was not fast enough to earn him a spot in the final, the time set a new world para swimming record, shattering the previous S14 time of 1:52.49.
In the 200m individual medley, Nicholas was disqualified. But Hayley said his performance at the World Cup was very promising.
B次元官网网址淗e hasnB次元官网网址檛 been training for a while and for him to get a best time is really, really a good sign moving forward,B次元官网网址� said Hayley. B次元官网网址淭here were more than 40 swimmers and he finished 29th-30th. So for a para guy placing that high was pretty incredible.B次元官网网址�
Having experienced competing in the world event has inspired Nicholas to one day pursue the opportunity of moving up from para swimming. However, Hayley said that will not be a priority for Nicholas at this time. They will focus on qualifying for the World Championships in Manchester, England next year and also the Paris Paralympics in 2024.
Currently, Nicholas is training at the Ravensong pool. Hayley said itB次元官网网址檚 a challenging situation.
B次元官网网址淭he pool in Qualicum is so hot because itB次元官网网址檚 used for therapy and obviously the population here is much older,B次元官网网址� Hayley explained. B次元官网网址淭hatB次元官网网址檚 the biggest thing, the temperature of the water. We have to travel to Nanaimo for him to do long-course because most of the racing he does is long course and the pool in Qualicum is short-course.B次元官网网址�
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