There must be something in the water in Saskatoon.

Since November 2016, Saskatoon para-swimmer Shelby Newkirk has set seven national records, joined the Canadian national para-swimming team and earned four goal medals for Team Saskatchewan at the Canada Summer Games while being named the flag bearer for the province.

And if that wasn’t enough, this week Newkirk announced her arrival on the international scene, setting the world record in the S7 100-metre backstroke at the para-swimming Canadian Open in Toronto.

“I was really excited for it. I had my goals, and me and the head coach kind of sat down, and we broke down what times I wanted to go for each 25 — so each quarter of the race — and we did kind of like a time trial in the morning to just practice going fast,” said Newkirk, who was aiming to break the record set by German Paralympian Kirsten Bruhn.

“We did 75 metres, and my time was a little off from what I wanted, and I knew what I had to change. So going into racing that night, I just got into the water, I knew what my times were, and I just really pushed it and went for it.”

After touching the wall with a time of 01:21:43, Newkirk said she wasn’t immediately sure if she had reached her goal. But her mom, Kathy-Jo, was sure her daughter would be a world record holder before it even happened.

“She had a great start, and when I saw the time at the halfway point, I’m like, she’s going to get this,” she said. “It was super exciting to watch. It was nice to see her reach her goal, and be excited about it.”

When she was just 13 years old, Newkirk was diagnosed with dystonia, a neurological movement disorder that has left her without the use of her right foot. Now, just over seven years later, she has her sights set on the Paralympics.

“Somebody said to me the other day, that every time I get a (personal best), from now on in that race, it’s going to be a world record, and I realized like, wow, that’s really cool,” said Newkirk. “I’m definitely going to keep pushing myself, and see how fast I can go.”

“We’re going to make sure everybody manages their expectations. That is the next big thing,” said her coach Eric Kramer. “The goal was when she met me, to make the Paralympics in 2020. Well that’s still the end goal, and we’ll see what happens after that.”