At the Canadian Para swimming Paralympic Games trials in Toronto, Nicholas Bennett of Parksville set a new world record in the men’s S14 200-metre individual medley. He finished the race in a time of two minutes, 5.97 seconds, beating the previous world mark of 2:07.50 set by Gabriel Bandeira of Brazil.
In an interview with paralympic.ca, Bennett expressed his overwhelming joy at breaking this record, stating that he had hoped to improve his time by a couple of tenths but ended up exceeding his own expectations. This achievement has put him ahead of schedule in his training.
Having met the ‘A’ standard in two events, Bennett is now being considered for nomination to the 2024 Paralympic Games team. This is a significant milestone for Bennett, who was a 2020 Paralympian and has been training at the Red Deer Catalina Swim Club in Alberta.
In addition to his recent success, Nicholas Bennett was named Canada’s 2023 Male Swimmer of the Year in the Paralympic program last year. Last year, he claimed his first career world titles in Manchester, England, in the 200m freestyle and the 200m individual medley. Bennett also set new national standards and shattered the Americas mark in the 100m breaststroke, showing his versatility as a swimmer.
Bennett’s sister Haley played an integral role in helping him achieve these milestones as she serves as his coach. Together they have been working towards achieving these goals and have been successful so far.
Overall this achievement marks a significant milestone for Nichols and gives him hope for future successes
