A cold, snowy February afternoon in Vancouver seems far removed from the heated atmosphere of a world calibre swim competition.
Coaches and swimmers from the High Performance Centre – Vancouver gather on the deck of the UBC Aquatic Centre. There are some laughs and jokes as the swimmers stretch before they begin their training.
With the Paris 2024 Olympic Games in the rearview mirror, swimmers are already focusing on the 2028 Games. The road to Los Angeles will have stops at world championships in Singapore this summer and Budapest in 2027, plus Pan Pacific Championships, Commonwealth and Pan Am Games.
Head Coach Scott Talbot said his centre and the High Performance Centre – Ontario in Toronto will play a significant role in preparing swimmers for world-class competitions.
“Swimming Canada, in creating centres, understands the performance puzzle,” said Talbot, who became HPC-Vancouver’s head coach in November 2022. “You can have performances with just an athlete and a coach, but normally sustained performance over a career takes a lot of support.
“Swimming Canada’s job is to provide environments to put those supports around the coach and the athlete so they can deliver and keep delivering.”
The nine swimmers at the HPC-Vancouver are offered a full range of services, including video analysis, a performance scientist coach, doctor, physiotherapist, registered massage therapist, strength and conditioning, mental health and performance and dietitian.
“It’s to help the athlete be as best prepared as possible when they go into the biggest environments that we have in our sport,” said Talbot, a two-time Olympic swimmer for New Zealand who coached at the international level in Australia.
“The service team is first and foremost to make sure that we’re able to have minimal breaks in training by having them physically right and making sure they’re healthy.”
Programs can be adapted to suit the individual, whether it’s weight training, working on technique, proper nutrition, or dealing with situations outside the pool.
“It’s all individualized within a group format,” said Talbot.
“It’s based on age, experience, event. If they are a two-time Olympian going for medals or if they are first-time trials qualifiers.”
Emma O’Croinin, who competed at her first Olympics last summer, began her swimming career with her hometown Edmonton Keyano Swim Club. She came to the Vancouver centre four years ago because it allowed her to train while taking kinesiology courses at the University of British Columbia.
“What really drew me here was the world-class staff and all the support systems,” said O’Croinin, who has won Pan Am and world championship medals. “There’s a lot that goes on behind the scenes. They really look at the athlete as a whole, and what they can do to support from all different kinds of angles and equipment. It’s really helpful.”
Three-time Olympian Yuri Kisil has come full circle. He trained five years at the Vancouver centre before heading east to the HPC-Ontario for four years. He spent 18 months at Calgary’s Cascade Swim Club before returning to Vancouver.
Kisil said coaches bring different personalities to the centres, but the “safety net” of support systems are similar.
“You have four, five, six people here to help you,” he said. “No mater what you need, they’ll offer the help. Sometimes you don’t even realize you need it until they offer it.”
Kisil likes the atmosphere created when training with fellow Olympians O’Croinin, Finlay Knox, Cole Pratt, Blake Tierney and Ingrid Wilm. Teammates Bridget Burton, Raben Dommann and Justice Migneault help push the more established veterans.
“Just being a part of a group where everyone is like-minded and trying to accomplish the same goal of being the best in the world, it’s really fun to be a part of,” he said. “And having a very high-end coach who has coached a lot of the best swimmers in the world, you have a lot of faith and trust in that coach.”
Talbot said no swimmer can advance to a High Performance Centre without the fundamental skills and training supplied by coaches at the club and varsity levels across Canada.
“To even consider going to a High Performance Centre, your performance level has to be very high,” said Talbot. “The home club coaches, and all the varsity coaches have done an amazing job to get them here.”
Swimming Canada High Performance Director and National Coach John Atkinson added that all swimmers start their own journey in club programs across the country. Athletes work with their coaches aiming to be on track with their performances and there are many great success stories.
“The High Performance Centres based at UBC and also at the Toronto Pan Am Sports Centre offer a pathway in Canada. Both are world-class daily training environments for Canadian athletes to further their swimming career, with opportunities for academics as well.”
Atkinson encouraged younger athletes who are on track to register their interest through one of the Inquiry links here: https://www.swimming.ca/high-performance-centres/
“The option to move to the High Performance Centres for a Canadian focused approach to international development and success is a great option, as well as for athletes returning to Canada,” Atkinson said.
At the 2024 Olympic Games in Paris 21 of the 29 swimmers on the team (72 per cent) were currently training at or had trained at a Swimming Canada High Performance Centre for significant periods in their career when they were successful and or made significant improvement
“This without doubt shows the value of the High Performance Centres for athletes as they develop or are already performing at the highest level of our sport such as world championships and Olympic Games,” Atkinson said. “As well as offering world-class coaching, the centres are the base, through the Canadian Sports Institute network, for many of our support staff for our program and teams. This is very valuable in supporting the world-class daily training environment for the athletes in the centres and on our teams.
Swimmers from the Ontario and Vancouver recently came together for a joint training camp in California, joined by other national team members.
Talbot said training with the HPC-Ontario shows the cooperation and joint goals of the two centres.
“We all have the same target,” said Talbot. “We’re all on the same team. We like having the opportunity to make each other better by spending more time with each other.”