World junior team roster announced

Following an exciting Bell Canadian Swimming Trials, Swimming Canada has selected its National Development Team.

A team of 26 swimmers (11 males, 15 females) born between 2007 and 2011 will represent Canada at the World Aquatics Junior Swimming Championships Aug. 19–24 in Otopeni, Romania.

“I’m very pleased with the level of performance we saw from our junior swimmers last week in Victoria,” said National Development Coach Ken McKinnon.

Selection standards were based on the fastest 16^th-place preliminary times for the past three world junior championships, and the Trials saw a total of 61 swims achieving these standards.

Among the 12 returning athletes from last summer’s Junior Pan Pacific Championships are Ella Cosgrove, Madison Kryger, and Oliver Dawson, who have also been named to Canada’s senior national team for the 2025 World Aquatics Championships in Singapore.

“These two achievements show both depth and excellence at the world junior level. I would like to recognize the great work accomplished by our Canadian coaches in achieving this level of performance,” McKinnon said.

“The future is bright”

High Performance Centre – Ontario Assistant Coach Rob Novak will serve as the team’s head coach. Novak also guided the 2023 Junior Pan Pacs team to Canada’s best-ever medal performance at that event. Six other coaches from British Columbia, Alberta, and Ontario round out the staff.

The team has eight weeks to prepare before heading to the Otopeni Aquatics Complex near the Romanian capital of Bucharest. The venue will host more than 600 swimmers from approximately 100 countries.

“I’m looking forward to watching our best juniors race against the world this summer in the first international junior meet of the Los Angeles 2028 Olympic quadrennial,” McKinnon said.