Canadian swimmer Kirby Cote of Winnipeg smiles on the podium after winning a gold medal in the women's 100-metre butterfly event at the Paralympic Games in Athens, Greece, Sunday, Sept.19, 2004. It was Canadaís first gold and first medal of the 2004 Paralympic Games.(CP PHOTO/HO/Canadian Paralympic Committee/Jean-Baptiste Benavent)

One down and six to go. Winnipeg swimmer Kirby Cote kicked off her pursuit of seven medals at the 2004 Paralympic Games with a gold medal in the 100-metre butterfly for visually impaired athletes, yesterday in Athens.

It was Canada's first medal at the 2004 Paralympics.

"I was a little nervous before my race because it went straight to finals," said the 20-year-old University of Winnipeg student, speaking from Athens. "(I was in) Lane 4 and I thought it was going to be a really tight race because I knew the girls I was racing were pretty fast.

"There were a little bit of the butterflies but as soon as I got on the blocks I just felt really automated. I've done this thousands of times in practice and it just felt really good as soon as I dove in the water. It went by so fast."

Cote posted a Canadian record time of one minute 7.44 seconds, a personal best by more than a second. Australia's Prue Watt was second in 1:08.41 and Rhiannon Henry of Britain was third in 1:09.21.

There were no preliminary or semifinal heats for the race, which went straight to a six-swimmer final.

Adding to the drama of the event, a Greek swimmer won the men's 100 butterfly just before Cote's swim. The crowd was still going wild when the women settled into the blocks for their final, Cote said.

"It was crazy, they were so happy," she said. "You just had to stay focused and not get all caught up in (the excitement) that's all."

Cote, who has 10% vision, won gold in the 100 breaststroke and 200 individual medley in world record times and had two silvers four years ago at the Paralympics in Sydney.

She will race in six more events in Athens, starting with the 100 backstroke today. Cote will also race the 100 breaststroke, 100 freestyle, 400 freestyle, 200 IM and 50 free. She is currently ranked first in all of them except the backstroke.

"If you asked me last September, I would have told you I'm not a flier," said Cote, who has sliced five seconds off her time since last September. "But we worked really hard on my butterfly this year, me and Tom (Manta coach Tom Hainey). Manta has a lot of really strong fliers in the club so it's really good to have a lot of people to train with.

"All my weaker events, I really trained hard this year mostly on my fly and the breaststroke."

With her first gold medal safely tucked away, Cote is confident that the best is yet to come.

"I've trained really hard these past four years and I haven't trained harder my entire life (than) this past year," said Cote, the 2000 Manitoba Female Athlete of the Year and Manitoba Youth Athlete of the Year. "I didn't do anything wrong so I couldn't look back and say, 'I should have gone to bed earlier or tried harder.' I really made sure that I didn't look back on anything this year so I'm really confident going into my races here."

Cote's victory highlighted a four-medal performance for Canadian swimmers yesterday. Donovan Tildesley of Vancouver added silver in the men's 400 freestyle for the visually impaired, Stephanie Dixon of Victoria was also second with a Canadian record in the women's S9 100 butterfly while Thunder Bay's Andrea Cole won bronze in the women's S8 100 butterfly.