Swimmers on the podium on Day One at the London 2012 Paralympic Games

Canada's Big Ben breaks world record at Paralympic Games
Summer Mortimer adds silver medal

LONDON, UK, Aug. 30, 2012 /CNW/ - Benoît Huot of Montreal broke his world record and won the gold medal on Thursday in the men's 200-metre individual medley in swimming action at the Paralympic Games.

Huot, 28, clocked two minutes and 10.01 seconds for his ninth career Paralympic gold medal. That eclipsed his previous mark of 2:10.26 set at the Paralympic swimming trials this past March in Montreal. Andre Brasil of Brazil was second in 2:12.36 and Rick Pendleton of Australia third in 2:14.77.

"What happened in Beijing four years ago gave me that energy to come back for another four years," said Huot who was third in the event in Beijing. "It was actually the best four years of my training. It's great to have the medal tonight but what I'm most proud of is those four years. The process I took to get here where I am today."

"Congratulations to Benoît Huot on winning Canada's first gold medal at the Paralympic Games in London," said the Honourable Bal Gosal Minister of State (Sport). "Canadians across our country are admiring your incredible performance. On behalf of the Government of Canada, I extend my best wishes as you celebrate your victory in London."

Isaac Bouckley of Whitby, Ont., was in the same final and disqualified for an illegal kick on the butterfly leg.

In the women's S10 200 individual medley Summer Mortimer of Ancaster, Ont., took the silver medal in 2:32.08. The race was won by Sophie Pasco of New Zealand in a world record 2:25.65.

"I knew what to expect in this race," said Mortimer. "I haven't trained for it since the world championships but this was a get the jitters out of my system type race. It was a very emotional day for me and this really sets me up well tomorrow for the 50 freestyle tomorrow."

Aurélie Rivard of St-Jean-sur-Richelieu, Que., took sixth spot in a personal best 2:37.70.

In the women's S7 100 backstroke, Brianna Nelson of Victoria finished in eighth place in 1:30.17. In the preliminaries she lowered her four-year-old Canadian record clocking 1:29.30 which was also the eighth fastest overall.

"It wasn't as good as this morning but it felt really good to be in the final," said Nelson, 20. "It was a good experience. I don't know what the difference was tonight. I was more nervous this morning and that seemed to help me a lot."

What Canada Did Thursday at the London 2012 Paralympic Games

ARCHERY

Women's Open Compound Bow _ Karen Van Nest, Wiarton, ON placed sixth in the qualification round and moves on to the quaterfinal Friday, August 31.

Compound Bow, Men's W1 _ Norbert Murphy, Vaudreuil-Dorion, Que., placed sixth in the qualification round and moves on to the quaterfinal Friday, August 31.

Men's Open Compound Bow _ Kevin Evans, Jaffray, BC, shot 626 while Robert Hudson, Leoville, SK qualified in 23^rd place with a score of 629. Both move on to the elimination round Friday, August 31.

Recurve Bow, W2 _ Lyne Tremblay, Magog, Que., shot 423 to end in 20^th spot. She will compete in the elimination round beginning Friday, August 31.

CYCLING

Individual Pursuit (B) _ Daniel Chalifour, Mont Laurier (QC) / Alexandre Cloutier (pilot), St-Antoine-de-Tilly (QC)  finished seventh with a time of 4:28.648.

Individual Pursuit (C4) _ Marie-Claude Molnar, Ste-Adèle (QC) finished fourth in the final with a time of 4:12.98. In the morning she qualified for the final with a time of 4:11.678. This was her best time in that event by five seconds.

1km Time Trial (C1-2-3) _ Brayden McDougall, Calgary (AB) finished 12th with a time of 1:12.683. For 11 minutes he was the Paralympic Record holder in the C1 category before an athlete from China set a new record. Arnold Boldt, Saskatoon (SK) finished 25th with a time of 1:17.304 and Jaye Milley, Calgary (AB) finished 26th with a time of 1:17.631.

EQUESTRIAN

Para-Dressage _ Lauren Barwick, Aldergrove, BC (riding Off to Paris) earned a score of 72.095 %, for a third place finish out of 23 in the Grade II Team Test.

Ashley Gowanlock, Surrey, BC (riding Maile) earned a score of 67.955 % for eighth place out of 15 riders in the Grade 1B Team Test.

GOALBALL

Men's Goalball (blind and visually impaired) _ Canada (Brendan Gaulin, Vancouver, BC; Bruno Hache, Dorval, QC; Mario Caron, St-Eustache, QC ; Ahmad Zeividavi, Vancouver, BC; Simon Tremblay, Alma, QC; Doug Ripley, New Westminster. BC) were edged out by Belgium in their first match of the preliminaries 4-2.Canada will go on to play Iran tomorrow (Friday, August 31st) at 19:45.

JUDO

In judo, Justin Karn (Kitchener, ON) a.k.a. "The Badger" competed in his first Paralympic Games and ended up with a seventh place finish after fighting against three opponents in the -60Kg category.  His teammates Tony Walby and Tim Rees will both be competing on September 1 in the +100Kg and -100Kg respectively.

WHEELCHAIR BASKETBALL

The Canadian Men's Wheelchair Basketball Team opened their London 2012 Paralympic Games with a 68-53 win over Japan. Patrick Anderson, Fergus, Ont., led the charge scoring all of Canada's 16 points in the first quarter as part of an impressive 29 point half. He finished with a game high 32 points and 13 rebounds, going 15-for-21 (71%) from the field, (nearly matching his career best single game total of 35 points that he set in a semi-final win over the Netherlands at the 2004 Paralympics).

Bo Hedges, Wonowon, BC chipped in 12 points, while Yvon Rouillard, Montreal, Quebec, scored six for Canada. Next up Canada will face hometown Great Britain Friday August 31 at 9:15pm London time.

Canada has a total of 145 athletes competing in 15 sports at the London 2012 Paralympic Games, from Aug. 29 to Sept. 9. The full team list and media guide are available at www.paralympic.ca/london2012.

Note to Editors: Broadcast-standard video and mp3 files are available for media download via SendtoNews: www.sendtonews.com. Still images are available via www.paralympic.ca/imagebank.

About the Canadian Paralympic Committee

The Canadian Paralympic Committee is a non-profit, private organization with 46 member sports organizations dedicated to strengthening the Paralympic movement. The Canadian Paralympic Committee's vision is to be the world's leading Paralympic nation. Its mission is to lead the development of a sustainable Paralympic sport system in Canada to enable athletes to reach the podium at the Paralympic Games. By supporting Canadian Paralympic athletes and promoting their success, the Canadian Paralympic Committee inspires all Canadians with a disability to get involved in sport through programs delivered by its member organizations.

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SOURCE: CANADIAN PARALYMPIC COMMITTEE (CPC)

For further information:

Alison Korn
Press Chief / Chef de Presse
Canadian Paralympic Team / Equipe paralympique canadien
London : 07510 875 867
[e-mail]

Judy Joseph-Black
Assistant Press Chief / Chef de Presse adjointe
Canadian Paralympic Team / Equipe paralympique canadien
London : 07510 875 869
[e-mail]