Danielle Dorris captures Canada's 6th gold medal at Para swimming worlds
CBC
Canada's Danielle Dorris is a world champion once again.
The Moncton, N.B., native claimed gold in the women's S7 100-metre backstroke on Thursday at the Para swimming world championships in Manchester, England.
Dorris went out in the first half of the race in 38 seconds, eventually touching the wall in one minute 22.02 seconds to earn the win. American Julia Gaffney earned silver at 1:22.26, while Ukraine's Veronika Korzhova scored bronze at 1:23.52.
"That whole thing was so much fun. That first 50 [metres] felt amazing. The second 50 started to hurt, but I could see everybody trying to catch up and I was like, 'No I have it, I need to hold off for a little bit longer.' And I was able to get to that touch and I was able to win so I'm really happy," Dorris said.
WATCH | Dorris claims gold:
She was the silver medallist in the 100m backstroke at the 2021 Paralympics and 2022 worlds.
"The gold in the 100 back wasn't necessarily the goal here," Dorris said. "I just wanted to do the best that I could, maybe a second but getting the gold I feel very happy, that's the first time that's happened in that event."
Dorris, who was born with only a portion of her arms, utilized her strong underwater kick to maintain the lead and hold off Gaffney, who holds the world record (1:19.47).
"We've been working on my underwater kick all year and being able to utilize it as my go-to; I'm very proud and that was the result I got," she said. ''Off the wall, the challenge is to hold my breath and go as long as I can and try to do the same off the turn which I did tonight."
She will defend her butterfly world title on Friday during the evening session in Manchester, which begins at 12:35 p.m. ET. Dorris will also compete in the S7 50m freestyle on Saturday.
Canada now has 10 medals in Manchester, including six gold, two silver and two bronze. The team has already matched its gold-medal total from last year's worlds with three days still to go.
Despite her age, Dorris is hoping to compete at her third Paralympics next summer in Paris. She made her debut at the Games at just 13 years old at Rio 2016.
