St. Albert swimmer Reid Maxwell won a silver medal in the men’s 400-metre freestyle at the Paralympics in Paris on Wednesday.
In his first chance at a medal this week, Maxwell also set a Canadian record with the time 4:23:90, according to Swimming Canada.
He was born without a lower right leg and with Prune Belly Syndrome, which is commonly characterized by the underdevelopment of the abdominal muscles, and competes in the S8 para-swimming class.
Having turned 17 on Monday in Paris, Maxwell is the youngest Canadian swimmer to win a Paralympic swim medal since Aurelie Rivard earned silver in 2012 at 16.
As of Wednesday, he still had the 100-metre freestyle and butterfly races to compete in.
Also on Wednesday, B.C.-born and Red Deer-based Nicholas Bennett became a double gold medallist, having won the men’s 200-metre individual medley in Paralympic record time.
With a gold in the 100-metre breaststroke and a silver in the 200-metre freestyle, he is the first Canadian man to win multiple gold medals in Paralympic swimming since Benoit Huot in 2004.
With files from The Canadian Press