National Development Team Program announces squads for international competitions

VICTORIA – Following a successful Canadian Swimming Trials in Victoria, and the naming of its senior national teams, Swimming Canada has also announced its National Development Team Program teams for 2022.

Canada will send 36 swimmers (16 males, 20 females) to the Junior Pan Pacific Swimming Championships in Honolulu, Hawaii, Aug. 24-27. This will be Canada’s first international development team since the FINA World Junior Championships in Budapest, Hungary, in Aug. 2019. In addition, eight swimmers have been named to the FINA World Junior Open Water Championships in Seychelles Sept. 1-4.

“We’re extremely excited to name the 2022 Junior Pan Pacs team,” said National Development Coach Ken McKinnon. “The Trials was the first time most of the junior swimmers had the opportunity to race head to head at a national level. The swimmers didn’t disappoint here in Victoria.”

For the first time at Trials, Swimming Canada recognized a junior national champion in each event. This included a junior final for 18-and-under swimmers, with many winners coming through performances in the senior A final.

“There were two or three junior swimmers in most of the A finals and the racing in the junior finals was closely fought which helped raise their game while racing for a spot on the team,” McKinnon said. “I want to congratulate the swimmers, their families and their coaches on the work they put into their preparation for this selection. Managing a consistent training preparation through the pandemic with the restrictions in place was a massive challenge, so it was really rewarding to watch their dedication pay off here in Victoria at the Trials.”

The swimmers will also be invited to participate in two Vancouver-based camps in preparation for the high-profile development event, which includes competitors from Australia, Japan and Team USA.

The first camp will take place May 30-June 5 around the Mel Zajac Jr. International Swim Meet at the UBC Aquatic Centre. The team will re-convene in Vancouver Aug. 17-20 before travelling into Honolulu for final preparations for the meet.

“I’m looking forward to working with the team in Vancouver. It will be a first National Development Team experience for most swimmers and it will give everyone involved an opportunity to learn and prepare for the Junior Pan Pacs,” McKinnon said.

In addition, Swimming Canada selected eight swimmers (four males, four females) to compete at the open water world juniors. These swimmers have been selected for the 10-km (18/19-year-old) and 7.5-km (16/17-year-old) categories.

The team includes Alex Axon of Markham Aquatic Club, who was a member of the 2018 team at this event. Axon finished fifth in the 14/15 age group at those championships in Eilat, Israel, Canada’s most successful ever.

“I’m delighted that we have been able to select a strong group of distance swimmers to represent Canada in the Seychelles,” said Swimming Canada Distance/Open Water Coach Mark Perry. “We have some really talented young swimmers with a good mixture of relevant experience and I’m looking forward to guiding them to success at the event.”

“With regard to the junior teams we were very excited to see great racing. The Junior finals were significant and we saw athletes improve from heats to finals, a key skill required in the international arena, and they were such a positive addition to the trials,” said High Performance Director and National Coach John Atkinson. “Having a full team at the Junior Pan Pacs and also the FINA World Junior Open Water championships will again develop our juniors towards the Paris 2024 Olympic Games and beyond.”

Swimmers for the 5-km (14/15-year-old) category will be announced at a later date. As there were no available swimmers born 2007 or 2008 entered in the selection event, Atkinson has applied his discretion to utilize the following process to select swimmers for the this age category: Swimmers born 2007 and 2008 will be ranked (combined ages) in the long course 1500-m freestyle for the period of March 1, 2022 to April 25, 2022. The top two ranked males and top two ranked females will be selected for the World Junior Open Water Championships.

Between the two junior teams, eight coaches have been appointed to the staffs – six for Junior Pan Pacs and two for open water world juniors.

“This is another great development opportunity for Canadian coaches from eight different clubs across the country,” Atkinson said. “When we announced our senior teams, we were pleased to appoint coaches who had developed their experience on previous junior teams. We want this pipeline to continue both ways – to develop a deeper coaching pool for our national teams, as well as for those coaches to bring knowledge, skills and experience back to their club programs. We will look to keep offering these and other opportunities to our coaches.”

JUNIOR PAN PACIFIC CHAMPIONSHIPS

TEAM STAFF – PERSONNEL

FINA WORLD JUNIOR OPEN WATER CHAMPIONSHIPS

Head Coach: Mark Perry

Team Coaches: Martin Gingras (Pointe Claire) and Dominique Longtin (CAMO).