By Jim Morris

A week of racing at the IPC Swimming European Open Championships has given Aurelie Rivard an idea where she stands heading into this summer’s Paralympics and what improvements she needs to make to her swimming to stand on the podium in Rio de Janerio.

Rivard won four medals in six races during the meet held in Funchal, Portugal. She had two first-place finishes, was second twice and finished fourth in the other races. The European Championships came about a month after the 19-year-old from St-Jean-Sur-Richelieu, QC, won five races at the Olympic and Para-swimming Trials in Toronto to earn a ticket to her second Paralympics.

“Going into this meet I just wanted to race and swim faster than I did at the trials,” said Rivard. “Time wise, I had no specific goals and I definitely swam over my expectations.

“I’m very pleased about my own performances. I’m inside one second of all my personal bests in every single race so I couldn’t ask for better. I’m not at my best form and I’m still able to win and race fast, so it’s a great little boost of confidence.”

In one of the meet’s most exciting races, Rivard was second in the 50-m freestyle in 27.77 seconds. That was under the old world record time and broke her own Canadian record of 27.87 seconds set at last year’s IPC Swimming World Championships. Russia’s Nina Ryabova won the race in 27.60, breaking the world record of 27.78 set by New Zealand’s Sophie Pascoe in 2013.

“Going into this meet I just wanted to race and swim faster than I did at the trials. Time wise, I had no specific goals and I definitely swam over my expectations.” Aurelie Rivard

Rivard opened the meet by winning the 400-m freestyle in four minutes, 34.65 seconds. She then won the 100-m free in 1:00.45, beating Ryabova by .48 of a second. Her time was below her world record of 59.17 seconds set at last summer’s Para Pan American Games in Toronto.

Lowering her 100-m world record is one of her goals this summer.

“I’m always looking to improve myself,” she said. “I broke the world record in a unique event, at home, with the whole crowd pushing me through. I’m looking forward to lowering that time in Rio.”

Rivard was second in the 200-m individual medley in 2:31.94, one second behind Ryabova. She also was fourth in the 100-m butterfly in 1:11:.52 and the 100-m backstroke in 1:11.08, leaving her .30 off the podium.

While generally happy with her results, Rivard knows there’s work to be done in all her races.

“I have a few technical details that I have to work on,” she said. “I need to improve my starts, turns and underwater kicks because that’s what makes me win a race or not,” she said. “I’m going to focus even more for the last four months on getting better.”

Rivard was the only Canadian competing at the European Championships. She used the meet as a yardstick to measure her training.

“At least once in the year I need to swim fast before the big summer ahead,” she said. “To do that I need racing and extra motivation.

“That was what I was looking for here. I needed a change in atmosphere and countries and rivals. It was a totally different game than trials. When I head home I’m going to know exactly what’s going on, where I am at and what I need to work on.”

Going to Portugal also allowed Rivard to test herself against some of the swimmers she will face in Rio.

“That’s why I wanted to come here,” she said. “It gives me a pretty solid idea of what it’s going to be like in Rio, and where in their training my rivals are at. This whole meet is a warm-up for Rio.”

Rivard is one of Canada’s leading medal contenders in Rio.

At last year’s world championships, she won the 50-m and 400-m freestyle in Canadian record times. She was second in the 200-m IM and 100-m freestyle.

Later in the summer at the Parapans she won a record seven medals, six of them gold. Besides the world record in the 100-m free, she also broke two Americans records.

Rivard plans to return home and take some time off before returning to training. She will compete at the Speedo Can Am Para-swimming championships in Gatineau, Que., July 15-17.

“I’m going to have a well-deserved week off, then it’s just training, training, training,” she said. “I’ll try to race as much as I can before we leave for our staging camp with the national team in July.”