Canadian Parapan Am Team on Day 3: Canada adds three medals to total

- Swimmer Nicholas Bennett wins gold in 100m breaststroke

- Greg Stewart captures silver in shot put  

- Liam Stanley wins his second medal of the Games, bronze in the 400m

LIMA, Peru, Aug. 25, 2019 /CNW/ - Canada added three medals to its haul at the Lima 2019 Parapan Am Games on Sunday, winning a gold, silver, and bronze to bring its total to nine podium finishes.  

MEDAL CHART:

TOP HIGHLIGHTS OF THE DAY

Nicholas Bennett won Canada's first medal in the pool on Sunday, touching the wall first in the men's SB14 100m breaststroke in a Canadian record time of 1:09.40. The 15-year-old, who is competing at his maiden multi-sport Games, first eclipsed the mark in his preliminary race and then topped himself in the finals to win gold. His teammate Tyson MacDonald finished just off the podium in the fourth place. In other results, Emma Grace Van Dyk posted a time of 1:32.83 in the women's SB14 100m breaststroke final, a personal best time. Arianna Hunsicker ended the night for Canada in the pool with a personal best of her own, swimming 1:06.17 in the women's S9 100m butterfly.

"It feels amazing. I'm just here for the team and this is just a plus. I'm really happy. I saw my family and thought of all my friends back home and that got me going."
- Nicholas Bennett

Rio 2016 Paralympic silver medallist Liam Stanley captured his second medal of Lima 2019, winning a bronze medal in the T37 400m with a time of 55.22. This comes on the heels of a silver in the 1500m last night, after which he also had to race in the 400m qualifications. The 22-year-old now has two medals in his first Parapan Am Games as a runner (he competed at Toronto 2015 in Para soccer).

''It kind of gave me the energy, I've done it before. I knew I wasn't going to be as fast I could have been but it definitely builds my confidence when you get on the podium. It sets me up well for worlds in Dubai."
- Liam Stanley (on coming back after two races last night)

Throwing a distance of 14.96m, Greg Stewart ? whose first season in the sport was just last year ? captured the silver medal in the F46 shot put. The 7-foot-2 thrower is competing in his first Parapan Am Games in the sport of Para athletics after previously competing on the sitting volleyball team in 2007 and 2011.

"I'm really grateful I had the opportunity to throw today. I threw my back out on Wednesday and I could barely walk on Thursday plus I had to sit on a plane for 15 hours so that was a bad combination. Our physio and massage did a wonderful job of putting me back together. So a big victory for me was just to show up. I think 14.96 was my best throw on this trip, I'm happy with that."
- Greg Stewart

The Canadian wheelchair rugby team finished off the preliminary round on Sunday with a 4-1 record. They opened the day with a 70-34 triumph against the Chileans before getting set to take on the United States. In yet another close duel with their rivals, Canada ultimately fell just short by a score of 54-51. Finishing second in the round-robin, Canada will now face Brazil in the semifinals.

Canada's wheelchair basketball teams went 2-0 on the day. The men, in their first game of the tournament, opened with a solid 64-51 triumph over Colombia to start off strongly. They need to finish Top 3 to earn a spot in next year's Paralympic Games. Patrick Anderson led all scoring in the game with 25 points, with Bo Hedges notching 13. In the evening, the women ran their record now to 2-0 with an 82-25 victory opposite Argentina.  

"It's always great to start the tournament off with a win. Colombia is a good team and one of the teams we knew we needed to beat in order to put ourselves in the position we want to be in, so it's a great start for us in this tournament."
- Bo Hedges

In the racquet sports, 20-year-old Thomas Venos battled back against the No. 7 seed in wheelchair tennis men's singles second-round action, but fell just short 6-4, 4-6, 6-3 to Brazil's Gustavo Carneiro. He will now turn his attention to doubles on Monday. In Para table tennis, the team of Peter Isherwood and Steven Dunn did not advance out of the preliminary round.

In sitting volleyball, round-robin play continued as the Canadian men defeated Costa Rica and lost to Brazil to bring its record to 3-1. Brazil is now the only undefeated team in the competition so far. For their part, the women scored their first win of Lima 2019 after an opening loss, defeating Peru in straight sets.

On the first day of goalball competition, both the Canadian men and women dropped their opening games. The women fell 9-3 to Brazil, while the men lost 10-5 to the USA.

For the complete Canadian Parapan Am Team results on August 25, please CLICK HERE.

MEDIA RESOURCES

*Photos are available at photos.paralympic.ca (sign up for an account). Photos are free for editorial use with credit to Canadian Paralympic Committee. 

*To access ALL flash quotes, please click here.  

*To access athlete bios and the complete Canadian Parapan Am Team list, please click here.

*Video highlights, broadcast b-roll, and interview footage are available upon request at [email protected].

Follow @CDNParalympics for the most up-to-date news

About the Canadian Parapan Am Team: Canada is represented by 151 athletes competing in 13 sports at the Lima 2019 Parapan Am Games, taking place August 23 to September 1. 

About the Canadian Paralympic Committee: Paralympic.ca  

LIST OF MEDIA ATTACHÉS BY SPORT
For interview requests with the athletes during the Lima 2019 Parapan Am Games, please contact the specific sport media attaché.

SOURCE Canadian Paralympic Committee (Sponsorships)