Brianna Nelson of Victoria was in the spotlight on Saturday winning gold in the women’s S7 50-metre butterfly at the International Paralympic Committee Swimming World Championships in Montreal, Aug. 12 to 18.
It's the first international gold medal for the 20-year-old Nelson, who won two silver medals at the 2012 Paralympic Games.
‘’Fantastic, exciting,’’ exclaimed Nelson, who executes the butterfly with one arm due to cerebral palsy which affects the right side of her body.
‘’You just have to trust yourself. I wanted to look over at the other lane but I knew that doing that could have potentially messed up my entire race. It wasn’t a race I was expecting to win, but I wanted to perform well. To get the gold on top of that is amazing.’’
Nelson broke her Canadian record for the win clocking 35.70 seconds, 1.06 seconds ahead of Susannah Rodgers of Britain in second. Sarah Mehain of Vernon, B.C., was fifth in a personal best 38.38.
- With files from Send to News