Swimming 2022 Canada Summer Games

By Sam Cortes, Communications Coordinator

The Canada Summer Games are just over five months away!

Get an inside look at how Team Toba will be developing its swim teams, and which aspect of training will be a major focus in getting ready to compete in Niagara.

Swimming Events in Niagara

A sport of the Canada Games since the beginning, swimming today has grown to also have Special Olympics events and events for athletes with physical disabilities.

Swimmers will compete this summer in a variety of events for men and women, including individual events, open water, and relays.

Check out the details on swim competitions and venues in Niagara here: https://niagara2022games.ca/sports#Swimming

Training Through Uncertainty

Swimmers and coaches have had to push on and adapt through the pandemic, which has had a significant impact on their training.

“It has obviously been a new and challenging experience learning to train for a sport such as swimming when you can’t access the pools,” said Team Toba Special Olympics Swimming Head Coach, Melissa Diamond. “But our training squad was very determined to keep busy through a variety of dryland training programs, as well as other fitness programming that is being offered virtually through Special Olympics Manitoba.”

They’ve also been able to create a sense of community through virtual team sessions to establish a great team dynamic when they got back together in-person.

And with team selection coming up this March-April, swimmers and their coaches, like Team Toba Swimming Head Coach, Szilvie Carriere, are feeling the excitement and staying optimistic as the games get closer.

“Now, moving forward… we have had a couple of meets and we have a better view of our swimmers, and we have a selection process,” said Szilvie.

Coaches’ Focus

Szilvie said swimming is very unique among the Canada Games programs.

“All the swimmers will be 13-15 for girls and 13-16 if they are boys,” she said. “If you really take a closer look at the big picture, at the ages of the athletes who are going to be representing Manitoba, they are a whole lot older.”

Being a young team presents a distinct circumstance, but many opportunities, too.

“This is first stage of the national competition. This is the first stage of [saying] ‘Okay, [I’m] stepping up to being confident and if I can represent Manitoba on a big stage like this, I might be able to give them a whole lot of confidence, a whole lot of opportunities to explore how far [I]can go in the sport,” said Szilvie. “This is huge for our swimmers at a very, very young age.”

Szilvie said the coaches have determined the main focus for training would be restoring confidence in their swimmers.

“Through the pandemic, the uncertainty that these athletes had to [go through], we were in the water and not in the water – a whole lot of uncertainties looking forward,” said Szilvie. “We are working really hard to restore this confidence by working hard with them on a daily basis, making sure that mentally they will be fit, and that the preparation will be moving forward in that fashion.”

Advice For Team Toba Swimmers

“We saw many swimmers on the national team that passed through the Canada Games,” said Swim Manitoba Technical Director, Pascal St-Pierre. “It’s not a must-do, but it’s really an experience that prepares you for the next step, really. And the level of competition is there, and the experience of a big games is there. With the dorms, the cafeteria, the uniforms, the ceremonies – everything. You really have the taste of everything of a big international games.”

Pascal’s advice for swimmers is to take in that surreal environment.

“Just don’t put too much pressure, but live it and enjoy it,“ said Pascal.

Melissa would advise swimmers to keep working at their personal best and only focus on things that are within their control.

“At the end of the day, and at the end of this experience, if they emerge as a better version of themselves, they have achieved their goal as well as my goal for them,” said Melissa. “The experiences and the friendships they are going to come out of this with are going to be with them a lot longer, and have more of an impact in the long run than any souvenirs that they might take home.”

Szilvie is proud of all the athletes, and eager to work closely as a team under any conditions to really go for it this summer.

“I am looking forward to take a challenge and make the best of what we have, and put out the best team we can,” said Szilvie.