The Paralympic final of the event was held in Paris at 4.13am AEST on Wednesday, September 4, with Pearse hoping to improve on the bronze medal he earned in Tokyo.
It was a four-man race for the podium with Pearse, fellow Australian Alex Saffy, Italian Stefano Raimondi, and Ukrainian Ihor Nimchenko the only realistic contenders after the first 50 metres.
Pearse and Saffy hit the turn simultaneously in 26.61 seconds with Nimchenko and Raimondi out in front.
However, it was Saffy who had a little more left in the tank over the second 50 metres, securing bronze for Australia in an Oceanic record time of 56.61, relegating Pearse, and his time of 57.24, into fourth.
The race was won by Raimondi, with Nimchenko picking up silver.
Despite the personal setback, this isn’t the end of Pearse’s Paralympic campaign, with his quest for gold in the 200m Individual Medley SM10 kicking off with the heats at 5.30pm AEST on Saturday.
Pearse and Saffy will meet again in heat one as the two Australian hopes in the event.
Should he qualify, Pearse will follow up in the final at 1.30am AEST on Sunday.
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