BC Athletes Headline National Team Selection

Victoria, BC – After four exciting days of competition at the Canadian Swimming Trials, Swimming Canada named its national team for the Pan Pacific Championships and nominated athletes for the Commonwealth Games.

The meet wrapped up in style at Victoria’s Saanich Commonwealth Place as Ryan Cochrane won his signature event, the 1,500-metre freestyle, in his home pool. He is one of 36 who will represent Canada at the Pan Pacs in Gold Coast, Australia, in August, and is also one of 30 nominated to swim for Canada at Commonwealth Games in Glasgow, Scotland, in July.

Swimming Canada implemented new selection policies this year focused on selecting swimmers with the best opportunity to compete internationally, now and in the future. In some cases, simply winning a national championship at Trials was not enough to earn a spot.

“Our selection policies this year for both teams were based on world standards. We set criteria for both teams based on the 16th-fastest time in each event from the Barcelona 2013 FINA World Championships,” said Swimming Canada High Performance Director John Atkinson.

Cochrane is one of two Canadians to medal in the pool in Barcelona, along with Hilary Caldwell (bronze, 200-m backstroke), who trains with Cochrane at the Swimming Canada High Performance Centre – Victoria. Both will be back with the national team, along with other veterans such as Katerine Savard of Pont-Rouge, Que., who set a Canadian record (57.27) Friday in the women’s 100-m butterfly.

In addition to 19 swimmers with national team experience, 18 newcomers will be representing Canada at the senior level for the first time.

“The established figures on the team like Katerine Savard, Ryan Cochrane and Hilary Caldwell will ensure there is experience,” Atkinson said. “As they continue to progress, along with 18 swimmers making their debuts, the team is poised to continue its progression to Glasgow and Gold Coast. It’s all part of the journey we have to the Olympic Games in Rio in 2016.”

The Pan Pacs team features 21 female swimmers and 15 males, while 20 females and 10 males are nominated to the Commonwealth Games.

“We have more female athletes than males by a considerable margin, however we have to start to address world-standard swimming in Canada,” Atkinson said. “Swimming Canada’s objective with swimmers and coaches is to focus on a two-peak year that focuses on selection trials and summer championships. We need coaches and athletes to address this in their preparation. It goes hand in hand with competing to international standards and winning medals.”

Although some familiar former national team names fell short of the qualifying standards, Atkinson expects the new approach to set the tone for Canada’s road to Rio.

“It’s not just about becoming a national champion but attaining a standard that will be competitive internationally,” Atkinson said. “Over the next two years this is the direction we’re going to continue to head in. The goal for every athlete making the Canadian senior team is to progress from morning heat swims to semifinals and finals.”

Meanwhile, Swimming Canada’s Para Selection Committee will be meeting early next week to determine potential nominations to the Commonwealth Games.

Pan Pacific Championships team:
Swimmer

Club/Personal Coach
Brittany MacLean

Etobicoke (Ont.) Swim Club
Samantha Cheverton

Pointe-Claire (Montreal) Swim Club
Alyson Ackman

Pointe-Claire (Montreal) Swim Club
Emily Overholt

West Vancouver Otters/Janusz Kaczmarek
Dominique Bouchard

Oakville (Ont.) Aquatic Club
Brooklynn Snodgrass

Cascade (Calgary) Swim Club
Hilary Caldwell

Pacific Sea Wolves/HPC-Victoria/Randy Bennett
Russell Wood

Cascade (Calgary) Swim Club/Mike Blondal
Tera Van Beilen

UBC Dolphins/HPC-Vancouver/Jozsef Nagy
Kierra Smith

Liquid Lightning (West Kelowna, B.C.) Swim Club
Martha McCabe

Toronto Swim Club/HPC-Ontario/Ben Titley
Victoria Poon

PPO (Montreal)/Benoit Lebrun
Michelle Williams

North York (Ont.) Aquatic Club
Sandrine Mainville

PPO (Montreal)/Benoit Lebrun
Erika Seltenreich-Hodgson

Greater Ottawa Kingfish/HPC-Vancouver/Tom Johnson
Alec Page

Island Swimming/HPC-Victoria/Randy Bennett
Luke Reilly

UBC Dolphins/HPC-Vancouver/Tom Johnson
Tabitha Baumann

Edmonton Keyano Swim Club/Derrick Schoof
Ryan Cochrane

Island Swimming/HPC-Victoria/Randy Bennett
Genevieve Cantin

Laval (Que.) Rouge et Or/Nicolas Perron
Katerine Savard

CAMO (Montreal)/Claude St-Jean
Audrey Lacroix

PPO (Montreal)/Benoit Lebrun
Marni Oldershaw

Oakville (Ont.) Aquatic Club
Sydney Pickrem

Neptune St-Jerome (Que.)
Evan White

Oakville (Ont.) Aquatic Club
Coleman Allen

UBC Dolphins/HPC-Vancouver/Tom Johnson
Gamal Assaad

Oakville (Ont.) Aquatic Club
Will Brothers

Island Swimming/HPC-Victoria/Randy Bennett
Richard Funk

Edmonton Keyano Swim Club/Derrick Schoof
Yuri Kisil

Cascade (Calgary) Swim Club
Joe Byram

U Alberta
Mack Darragh

Oakville (Ont.) Aquatic Club
Lyam Dias

Pointe-Claire (Montreal) Swim Club
Luke Peddie

UBC Dolphins/HPC-Vancouver/Tom Johnson
Kyle Troskot

Lethbridge (Alta.) Swim Club
Chantal Van Landeghem

MANTA (Winnipeg)/HPC-Ontario/Ben Titley

Staff

John Atkinson

Team Leader
Randy Bennett

Head Coach
Claude St-Jean

Coach
Nicholas Perron

Coach
Benoit Lebrun

Coach
Tom Johnson

Coach
Ben Titley

Coach

Commonwealth Games nominees:
Swimmer