Parksville swimmer Nicholas Bennett's couldn't help but feel emotional when he was honoured in the region that helped him reach the pinnacle of his athletic career.
During a gathering at the Ravensong Aquatic Centre in Qualicum Beach on Friday night, celebrating Bennett's two gold medals and a silver medal he won at the 2024 Paris Paralympic Games, the young man was lauded with praise and thunderous applause with officials calling him a hero and a role model.
Expressing appreciation and congratulations for Bennett's achievements were Qualicum Beach Mayor Teunis Westbroek, Parksville acting mayor Sean Wood, chair of the Regional District of Nanaimo (RDN) board, Vanessa Craig, and one of Bennett's coaches during his development years, Byron Trajan. Also in attendance was Qualicum First Nation Chief Michael Recalma, Qualicum Beach councillors Anne Skipsey, Petra Vander Valk, Jean Young and Scott Harrison, his friends and fellow members of the Ravensong Breakers Swim Club.
"This recognition truly means the world to me because of where I am from, it's come full circle," Bennett said to his family, friends and many supporters in the region. He said since Paris, he has been on a Canadian tour and "to finally ending it where it began, it's just emotional."
"Thank you from the bottom of my heart," he said fighting back tears. "The hard work you put into these young kids making sure they get to the pool, making sure they can get the personal training that they need, I just want you to know that it leads to this. It can lead to this. Without your support this would not be possible."
The 20-year-old Bennett was born and raised in Parksville. He developed his swimming prowess when he joined the Breakers club in 2010. He showed his potential then under the guidance of swim coach Trajan.
"I watched him kind of grow up and become an elite swimmer," said Trajan. "There was a special ingredient and it was hard work. He was working hard all the time and it was never my job to make him work harder. We just got to work on technique and make things fun. And he was providing that spark and doing all the hard work. It makes me very proud as a coach but it also makes me appreciate all the people around him that were helping out because I wasn't the only coach. There were a lot of teammates and people who were involved as well. It makes me really proud to see what he has done."
Bennett had to make some sacrifices to reach the upper echelons of swimming. He had to leave his family to train at Swimming Canada鈥檚 high-performance training centre in Montreal under coach Mike Thompson. When COVID-19 broke out, he had to leave Montreal and began training with sister Hayley. He earned a spot in the Canadian team at the Tokyo Paralympics in 2021 and again in Paris.
Bennett's father, Shawn, mom Lise and other members of his family were beaming with pride. Hayley, who was not able to attend but was shown the celebration live by her dad, was all smiles as she was applauded and congratulated for helping her brother reach historic milestones in his swimming career. Hayley, the head coach of the Catalina Swim Club in Red Deer, Alta., was named the 2024 Canadian Coach of the Year for the Paralympic program at the Canadian Swimming Congress in Calgary.
Shawn said he will never forget seeing Bennett's performance in Paris.
"Being there to witness it and experience it in person, we had seven family members with us as well, it was an incredible thing to witness," he said. "It couldn't have played out any better than it did. He got the first silver medal for Canada, followed by the first gold and then he had a very emotional podium moment that went viral. When you look back on it, it all seems surreal."
Craig said qualifying at an elite level for the Paralympics is already an accomplishment in itself but "to come back with two golds and a silver, that's just amazing." She added the fact he swims at Ravensong Aquatic Centre gives the community some "bragging rights."
Westbroek called Bennett a hero.
"Your are an inspiration to all the young people that are here who need a bigger pool to practise on," said Westbroek, who added when Bennett returns here, he would be training at Ravensong Aquatic Centre.
Bennett has been extremely busy and according to Shawn, he thought his son would decide to take a break from training but has no plans to rest on his laurels.
"He's already talking about Los Angeles in 2028," said Shawn. "He turns 21 this month in two weeks so he still has a long career ahead of him. We've never pushed him. It's all him, his determination and he wants to continue."
