By Keith Dunlap on SwimSwam
Developing distance swimmers is certainly a priority for Swimming Canada, as evidenced by a major announcement geared toward that objective.
Swimming Canada announced that it is launching a National Distance Training Group, which will be headquartered at the High Performance Centre-Ontario, based on the University of Toronto’s Scarborough campus.
The big emphasis is to develop distance swimmers at the junior and senior international levels in the 400, 800, 1500 meter freestyle events, and also the 400 individual medley.
“This is a fantastic opportunity,” National Distance/Open Water Coach Mark Perry said in a press release. “Right now, there aren’t enough male or female swimmers progressing in the distance pool events. That impacts both pool performance in distance events, 400-m and down events, and the development of open water athletes. Our strategic plan aims to strengthen distance swimming, and this program will help us bridge that gap. The world stage has a noticeable gap between top finishers and the rest of the field—there’s a real opportunity here for Canadian swimmers.”
The program will begin in September, but applications are being accepted immediately. It will target female swimmers born in 2011 or earlier and male swimmers born in 2010 or earlier.
Eligible athletes must have On Track times or be close to achieving such standards.
The program will be overseen by Perry, and High Performance-Centre coaches Ryan Mallette and Rob Novak.
The release also said athletes will have an integrated support team in conjunction with the Canadian Sport Institute of Ontario, which will provide expertise in areas such as sport science, nutrition, psychology, physiotherapy, strength and conditioning, and mental performance.
Athletes and their coaches are encouraged to contact Swimming Canada Manager of High Performance Centre Operations Michelle Poirier at mpoirier@swimming.ca to learn more.
Team Canada won eight medals at the Paris Olympics, its second-highest total ever. Of course, half that total was produced alone by Summer McIntosh, who won gold medals in the 400 freestyle, 200 butterfly and 200 IM, and a silver medal in the 400 freestyle relay.
Ryan Cochrane was the last Canadian to medal in a distance freestyle event at an Olympics when he won silver at the 2012 London Games.
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