St. Albert teen swimmer wins first silver at Paralympics

Canada's Reid Maxwell, left, Italy's Alberto Amodeo, centre, and Andrei Nikolaev of the NPA team pose with their silver, gold and bronze medal after the men's 400 m. freestyle S8 at the 2024 Paralympics, Wednesday, Sept. 4, 2024, in Paris, France. (Aurelien Morissard / Associated Press)

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