By James Sutherland on SwimSwam
See all of our 2024 Swammy Awards here.
Although many of Canada’s top swimmers currently train outside of the country, there were still some key members of the country’s Olympic team training on home soil and delivering some impressive results.
Greg Arkhurst, the head coach of Club Aquatique Montreal Natation (CAMO), earns the Canadian Coach of the Year honors for 2024 after he put three swimmers on the Canadian Olympic team—two first-timers and one of the country’s top performers this year, Mary-Sophie Harvey.
Harvey recently closed out a phenomenal year at the Short Course World Championships, winning three medals and setting lifetime bests in five events in Budapest.
The 25-year-old credits Arkhurst with revitalizing her career.
Canadian Swimming Coaches Association (CSCA). “I thought my good years were behind me. He made me believe I was not done and I could still accomplish stuff I can be proud of.
“It was good I trusted him in that. We have a really good relationship. I have full trust in him and he trusts me. That’s why it’s so great right now. I’m glad I kept swimming because I think the good years are ahead of me.”
Harvey qualified for her second Olympic team at the Canadian Trials in May, and despite failing to reach the podium in Paris, followed up with an exceptional Olympic performance with four 4th-place finishes.
Harvey placed 4th in the women’s 200 freestyle, resetting her lifetime best in the final in 1:55.29, and she also led off the Canadian women’s 4×200 free relay that placed 4th. She had preliminary duties on the women’s 4×100 free and 4×100 medley relays that ended up finishing 4th.
Harvey followed up by finishing 5th overall in the 2024 World Cup series standings, winning the women’s 400 free once and the 400 IM twice during the three-stop circuit.
At Short Course Worlds, she was on the best form of her career, setting new Canadian Records in the women’s 200 free (1:51.49) and 100 IM (57.04), the former also marking a new Americas Record and the latter a Commonwealth Record.
Harvey dropped nearly two seconds in that 200 free swim to rank #6 all-time and win the silver medal, while she took off 1.90 seconds in the 400 free (3:54.88) to claim bronze. Her record swim in the 100 IM placed her 4th, and she was also 4th in the 200 IM (2:04.30) and 400 IM (4:26.09) while winning three more medals on relays with some quick splits in the 50 free (23.51) and 100 free (52.40 flat-start/51.49 with a takeover).
Arkhurst developing Harvey as a true all-around swimmer at this point of her career was paramount for the success Canada experienced on the relays in Budapest.
The 48-year-old Arkhurst also landed Jeremy Bagshaw and Patrick Hussey on their first Canadian Olympic teams, with Bagshaw making his debut Games at the age of 32.
Both qualified in the men’s 4×200 free relay, with Hussey setting a lifetime best of 1:47.78 in the 200 free final at the Olympic Trials to place 2nd, while Bagshaw produced his fastest swim in eight years, 1:48.49, to finish 4th and qualify for Paris. The Canadian men ended up finishing 14th in the relay in Paris.
Arkhurst also coached five male CAMO swimmers to individual gold medals at the Canadian Championships in July, including a sweep of the three oldest age groups in the 100 free: Henri Vaillancourt for 14-15s, Ali Sayed for 16-18s, and Hocine Feddag in the 19 & over age group. Vaillancourt also won the 100 fly, Sayed won the 100 free, and Loic Courville-Fortin (50 back) and Edouard Duffy (400 free) added wins in the 19&over age group.
Sayed most recently swept all four of his individual events at the Ontario Junior International meet in December.
HONORABLE MENTIONS:
Scott Talbot, HPC Vancouver – Talbot put three swimmers on the Canadian Olympic team in 2024, with Finlay Knox qualifying for his second Games and Blake Tierney and Emma O’Croinin doing so for the first time. Knox broke the Canadian Record in the men’s 200 IM (1:56.07) at the Olympic Trials and then finished 8th in Paris to go along with contributions on three different relays. Tierney won the 100 back in a best time (53.48) and then set a new National Record in the 200 back (1:56.74) at the Trials, landing his first Olympic berth. He was 16th in the 100 back and 19th in the 200 back in Paris and swam in the men’s medley relay final (and mixed prelims). O’Croinin hit a PB of 1:57.86 in the women’s 200 free at the Trials to qualify for the 4×200 relay in Paris, where she swam a prelim leg and the team ultimately finished 4th. Prior to the Olympic Trials, Knox won an upset world title in the 200 IM at the 2024 Worlds in Doha, and then in December, closed out the year at Short Course Worlds with a pair of medals including individual bronze in the 200 IM, again in National Record fashion. Tierney also competed at both World Championship meets, setting a PB of 53.65 in the 100 back (at the time) leading off the Canadian men’s 4×100 medley relay in Doha, and then broke the Canadian Record in the SCM 100 back at SC Worlds, clocking 49.39 in the final to finish 5th. Dave Johnson, Cascade Swim Club – Johnson, a three-time winner of this award, sent three swimmers to the Olympics in 2024, with Yuri Kisil qualifying for his third Canadian Olympic team, Rebecca Smith making her second, and Ingrid Wilm landing her first Olympic berth. Prior to that, Wilm won three bronze medals (two individually) at the Worlds in Doha, while Smith won a pair of relay bronzes. After all three qualified at the Canadian Olympic Trials in May, Wilm was an individual finalist in the women’s 100 back (6th), Kisil contributed on the men’s 4×100 free relay that finished 6th, and Smith finished 24th in the women’s 100 fly in what was her lone swim in Paris. Kisil and Wilm then performed exceptionally well at Short Course Worlds, with Wilm walking away with five medals and Kisil earning one. Wilm showed off her versatility, throwing down some blistering freestyle splits on the Canadian relays due to the relatively thin roster. At the Canadian Championships, Cascade’s Cole Pratt set a best time en route to winning a national title in the men’s 19 & over 200 free, while Liam Weaver won the 50 free.PREVIOUS WINNERS
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