Oars are once again slicing water in the Sea Forest Waterway, the panoramic edge-of-downtown course, which proved memorable to Island-based Rowing sa国际传媒 with gold and bronze in the Tokyo Olympics.
But the two Elk Lake-based crews in the Tokyo Paralympics didn鈥檛 have the same podium success. Neither the Canadian PR3 mixed coxed four 鈥� which includes Victoria Nolan of the Victoria City Rowing Club, and Kyle Fredrickson of Duncan, out of the University of Victoria Rowing Club 鈥� nor the Canadian PR2 Mix2x crew of Jessye Brockway of Mill Bay, out of the Gorge Narrows Rowing Club, and Jeremy Hall of Edmonton were able to reach today鈥檚 medal finals and will instead race for the lesser placings in their B finals.
Nolan, a 46-year-old blind mother of two and four-time Paralympian, will have to be content with her bronze medal from Rio 2016.
More than two decades after her silver medal in swimming at the 2000 Sydney Paralympics, Jessica Tuomela placed fifth in the women鈥檚 visually-impaired triathlon in the Tokyo Paralympics. Already strong in the water after competing in the Sydney 2000, Athens 2004 and Beijing 2008 pools, the blind 38-year-old from Sault Ste. Marie, Ont., moved to Victoria in 2017 to hone her running and cycling at the Canadian triathlon training centre under national team coach Carolyn Murray.
鈥淲e worked really hard and I think we executed as well as we could,鈥� said Tuomela, who was guided by Marianne Hogan.
鈥淭he swim was awesome and the bike was incredible. The run wasn鈥檛 quite what I wanted it to be, but this is the Paralympic Games, and it is nothing to shake a stick at.鈥�
Swimmer Nicholas Bennett of Parksville was sixth in the men鈥檚 200-freestyle S14. The Islander recorded a Canadian record clocking of 1:56.52 to best his own national standard of 1:58.40 set in 2019.
鈥淚t was a lot better than this morning [in qualifying for the final],鈥� said Bennett, out of the Ravensong Breakers Club of Qualicum Beach.
鈥淚 went out a bit too quick in the morning, so I fixed that this evening and, and was only one second off being in third place.鈥�
The 17-year-old is the youngest of the 128 Canadian athletes across all sports in Tokyo.
鈥淚n the next couple of years, I鈥檒l be able to compete more,鈥� said Bennett, who is autistic.
鈥淭his one is for the experience, to get as close to the podium as possible, and Paris 2024 will be the time to medal. Everyone is nine-ten years older. I am soaking up knowledge and listening to the veterans on the team. The 2022 Commonwealth Games are up next in Birmingham. I think I can stay until the 2028 L.A. and 2032 Brisbane Paralympics.鈥�
Bennett was racing the 100-metre breaststroke on Saturday night. While these are Bennett鈥檚 first Paralympics, they are the fourth for fellow-Parksville athlete and Canadian men鈥檚 wheelchair rugby co-captain Trevor Hirschfield, who was an Oceanside hockey player and BCHL Junior A prospect with the Cowichan Valley Capitals, before a van accident in 2000 while visiting his grandparents in Sicamous.
Following bronze at Beijing 2008, silver at London 2012 and fourth place at Rio 2016, the 37-year-old Hirschfield will play for fifth place against France following an uncharacteristically dissatisfying group stage.
鈥淭he boys aren鈥檛 in a good mood. I think they are disappointed and a little angry. But this is the perfect sport to get rid of your frustration,鈥� said Canadian assistant coach Dave Willie.
鈥淭he team is going to come out hard [against France] and there should be a lot of big hits and a lot of energy. Our guys have a lot of pride.鈥�
Meanwhile, Deion Green of Victoria is the first men鈥檚 Island wheelchair basketball player in the Paralympics since the great Richard Peter of Duncan led sa国际传媒 to three gold medals and a silver over Sydney 2000, Athens 2004, Beijing 2008 and London 2012.
Green and sa国际传媒 fell to 0-2 following the 77-73 overtime loss to Turkey but still have two games remaining in group play, beginning today against South Korea.
