Two Canadian female athletes picked up medals at the Para swimming world championships Wednesday, while a pair of national records were set on the men’s side in Singapore.
Danielle Dorris captured silver in women’s 100-metre backstroke S7 and Mary Jibb bronze in 100 freestyle S9 for the second medal of her debut worlds.
Reid Maxwell and Sebastian Massabie are the latest to add their name to the Canadian record book.
Canada has earned five medals overall, including one gold, one silver and three bronze, with competition ending Saturday.
Dorris stopped the clock in one minute 23.10 seconds, finishing exactly one second behind gold medallist Veronika Korzhova of Ukraine at OCBC Aquatic Centre. Dorris, 22, won her heat earlier in the day in 1:22.13. Her personal best is 1:21.91 from the 2021 Paralympics in Tokyo.
WATCH | Dorris delivers silver-medal performance for second time at worlds:
Danielle Dorris captures silver at the World Para Swimming Championships
Dorris has reached the medal podium in the 100 back at each of the last three world championships. She won in 2023 after grabbing silver the previous year.
“I’m just ecstatic to be on the podium again. I’m so happy,” Dorris, who turned 23 on Monday, told Swimming Canada. “I know the 50 fly is my event, but I just love the 100 back. Every time I get a chance to swim it, I really enjoy it. I think at heart, I would love to do the 100 back all the time.”
She returns to the pool Thursday aiming for a third consecutive S7 world title in the 50 fly.
“I’m so excited. Whether I go [personal best)] or not, hopefully I can [successfully] defend my world title,” said Dorris, the two-time Paralympic champion and world record holder in the event.
In early August, the native of Moncton, N.B., competed in a 25m pool and lowered world records in the 100 individual medley and twice in the 50 butterfly S7 at the Canadian short-course championships in Sherbrooke, Que.
At the time, Dorris said her success would boost her confidence looking ahead to a 50m pool at the long-course world championships in Singapore.
A three-time Paralympic medallist, Dorris was born with underdeveloped arms due to a condition called bilateral radial dysplasia.
At the 2016 Games in Rio, a 13-year-old Dorris was the youngest-ever Canadian swimmer to compete at the Paralympics.
Jibb, 18, entered the pool Wednesday having earned the first gold medal for the 19-member Canadian team in Singapore while setting a national and Americas record on Monday. The Bracebridge, Ont., native added the Canadian women’s mark in the 100 butterfly S9 final on Tuesday.
In Canada’s last individual race of the evening, Jibb finished the women’s 100 free final in 1:02.71, 3.52 seconds behind gold medallist Alexa Leary of Australia, who set the world (58.89) and championship (58.95) records earlier this year. Mariana Ribeiro or Brazil earned the silver medal in 1:01.64.
“I’m just super happy with this,” Jibb said. “I’m just trusting my training, we’ve been working really hard in practice, and it’s all paying off.”
WATCH | Jibb clocks 1:02.71 for bronze in women’s 100m freestyle final:
Mary Jibb wins Canada’s 1st gold medal at the World Para Swimming Championships
Jibb suffered a stroke at age five that affected her right side. She began practising swimming as physiotherapy and it led to training for competition.
Jibb will race three more times this week in individual races, starting with the 400 free on Thursday.
WATCH | Jibb wins Canada’s 1st gold medal at this year’s worlds:
World Para Swimming Championships Singapore 2025: Day 4 evening finals
On the men’s side, Maxwell was the first to achieve his Canadian mark, going 59.57 seconds in the second of two heats in men’s 100 freestyle S8. The six-foot-four amputee born without his right leg improved his time in the final with a 58.38 clocking for fourth place.
The 18-year-old Maxwell’s previous national record was 59.59 from this year’s Canadian trials this past June in Toronto.
Sebastian Massabie, who swims for the Pacific Sea Wolves in his native Surrey, B.C., is competing in his first world championships.
After setting S5 Canadian records at trials in 50 butterfly and 50 freestyle, the 20-year-old added SM5 mark on Wednesday. Massabie went 3:30.55, lowering Tyson Jacob’s 3:33.80 national record by over three seconds and shattered his personal best (3:37.12) by almost seven seconds to place 12th. He did not advance to the final.
“It was a really good race,” said Massabie, who was reclassified as an S5 athlete ahead of his first world championships. “My fly and free were very good, and also my [backstroke]. I really feel like I did what I needed to do.”
Massabie, who has cerebral palsy which affects his left side, won Paralympic gold in Paris last summer in the 50 freestyle S4 in world record time.
Nicolas-Guy Turbide, Quebec City — 4th, men’s 100 back S13 (59.87-seconds season best)
Abi Tripp, Kingston, Ont. — 7th, women’s 100 free S8 (1:11.83 SB)
Aly Van Wick-Smart, Toronto — 11th, women’s 50 back S3 (1:14.13)
Jordan Tucker, Guelph, Ont. — 13th, women’s 50 back S4 (1:02.99)
