Two-time Paralympic gold medalist Danielle Dorris secured Canada’s first podium finish at the commencement of the Pan Pacific Swimming Championships with a silver medal in the women’s 50-meter butterfly S5-7 final held in Walnut, California. The Moncton, N.B. native maintained the lead from start to finish, clocking in at 34.42 seconds after completing one lap of the open-air pool at Mt. San Antonio College, just under half a second shy of her S7 world record of 32.99 seconds.
Despite Dorris touching the wall first, Katie Kubiak of the United States clinched the gold medal by amassing 1,060 points compared to Dorris’s 941 points. Earlier in the day, Kubiak set a new world record for S5 with a time of 37.21 seconds, nearly a full second faster than her previous record. In the same final event, her compatriot Mallory Weggemann secured the bronze medal with 926 points.
The Para Pan Pacific Swimming Championships utilize a multi-class format where athletes with varying physical, visual, and intellectual impairments compete together, and winners are determined using a points system rather than simply the first to touch the wall.
Expressing her joy, Dorris mentioned, “It’s pretty cool to have the first medal for Canada. It’s the first time it’s happened to me,” and added, “I’m quite happy with that swim, considering how my year was going, [even though] it’s not the time I wanted.” Dorris, who will turn 24 on September 22, was born with bilateral radial dysplasia, a condition that causes underdeveloped arms.
Later in the evening, Dorris contributed to a Canadian record-setting performance in the mixed 4×100 medley 34-point relay alongside Fernando Lu, Katie Cosgriffe, and Reid Maxwell, securing the bronze medal with a time of 4 minutes 40.11 seconds, surpassing the previous national record set at the 2023 World Para championships in Manchester, England.
Sebastian Massabie from Toronto claimed the bronze in the men’s 50-meter butterfly S5-7 final, recording 837 points. Massabie, the S4 Olympic champion in the same event in 2024, had the slowest time among the five competitors at 36.07 seconds. He had previously broken six Canadian records and one world record during the 2024 Paralympic swimming trials.
Nicholas Bennett secured the silver medal in the men’s 200 freestyle S2-5, accumulating 981 points, finishing behind Gabriel Bandeira from Brazil with 1,008 points. Bennett, who was diagnosed with autism spectrum disorder at three years old, claimed his first medals at his second Paralympic Games in Paris in 2024, including a gold in the 100 breaststroke SB14 and the 200 individual medley SM14.
Ken Stroud from Richmond, B.C., came second in the men’s 100 freestyle S4-6, S8, S10, S12, behind Akito Minai from Japan. Stroud, along with 19 other teammates, earned their spots on the Canadian national team based on their performance at the Canadian trials held in July.
This year’s Para Pan Pacific Swimming Championships mark the return of the event since 2018, with Canada aiming to use the competition as a stepping stone towards the 2028 Paralympics in Los Angeles. Nicolas-Guy Turbide, one of the Canadian team captains, highlighted the significance of the championships, stating, “The Para Pan Pacs are another big step on the road to [Los Angeles and the 2028 Paralympics] and it’s the ideal spot to race under similar [warm] conditions to see what works.”