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Summer Universiade: Four past medallists highlight Canadian swim selection
May 13, 2011
OTTAWA (CIS) – Canadian Interuniversity Sport, in conjunction with Swimming Canada, announced Friday the 43 student-athletes who will represent Canada in swimming at the 26th Summer Universiade from August 12-23, 2011, in Shenzhen, China.
The Canadian swim team is coming off back-to-back solid showings at the biennial event with seven medals (1-4-2) in 2009 in Belgrade, Serbia, and 10 podiums (4-2-4) in 2007 in Bangkok, Thailand.
No sport has brought more Universiade glory to Canada over the years. Since the inaugural Summer Games in 1959, Canadian swimmers have won 95 medals including 21 golds – both record tallies for the country.
“After head coaching the 2009 team I am very excited to return to that competition,” said University of Calgary head coach Mike Blondal. “With less than one year to go until Canada’s Olympic Trials this meet will be the first stop on the final step to make the Main Show in London in the summer of 2012.”
The Canadian squad is comprised of 21 female and 22 male swimmers including 31 from CIS universities, nine from NCAA schools, two from Canadian colleges and one from a Canadian university not affiliated with CIS.
The University of Toronto Varsity Blues lead the way with eight selections, while the University of Calgary Dinos, reigning CIS women’s and men’s champions, are a close second with seven.
Almost a third of the delegation (13) has previous world university games experience including two-time veterans MacKenzie Downing of Whitehorse, a graduate of the University of Victoria who was at the 2007 and 2005 Games (Izmir, Turkey), and Seanna Mitchell of Manotick, Ont., a fourth-year Dino senior who competed for the Red and White in 2009 and 2007.
Other returnees from 2009 include the U of C duo of Allison Long of Calgary and David Dimitrov of Milton, Ont.; U of T teammates Heather Maitland of Toronto and Zack Chetrat of Oakville, Ont.; UBC’s Hanna Pierse of Edmonton; Laval’s Marie-Pier Ratelle of Trois-Rivières, Que.; McGill’s Steven Bielby of Pointe-Claire, Que.; Dalhousie’s David Sharpe of Halifax; Stanford’s Matthew Swanston of Newmarket, Ont.; and U of Montreal's Xavier Desharnais of Sherbrooke, Que.
UNLV’s Kier Maitland of Edmonton is a veteran of the 2007 Games.
Downing, Mitchell, Ratelle and Swanston have all reached the podium in their previous trips to the Universiade.
Downing, who competed at the 2007 FINA world championships in Australia, claimed Universiade gold (100 fly), silver (200 fly) and bronze (4x100 medley) that same summer. Mitchell won a silver in Belgrade (4x200 free) and a bronze in Bangkok (4x100 medley). Ratelle (4x100 free) and Swanston (4x200 free) both returned from Serbia with a bronze medal.
Rounding out the women’s team for Shenzhen is the Varsity Blues’ foursome of Zsofia Balazs of Toronto, Pamela Ruksys of Kingston, Ont., Paige Schultz of Toronto and Vanessa Treasure of Mississauga, Ont.; the Dinos’ pair of Julianne Brown of North Vancouver, B.C., and Lindsay Delmar of Calgary; the UBC duo of Heather MacLean of Toronto and Tera Van Beilen of Oakville; Arizona State teammates Caroline Kuczynski of Montreal and Cassie Morrice of Victoria; Missouri’s Dominique Bouchard of North Bay, Ont.; Victoria’s Hilary Caldwell of London, Ont.; Cegep Édouard-Montpetit’s Sandrine Mainville of Boucherville, Que.; Cegep François-Xavier-Garneau's Béatrice Pineau of Boischatel, Que.; and Grant MacEwan's Nadine Williams of Sherwood Park, Alta.
Balazs, who transferred to Humber College following the last academic year to enroll in the Police Foundations program, and Williams will head to China before their Canadian teammates as they qualified earlier this spring for the FINA world championships in Shanghai (July 16-31), where they will compete in open water events.
MacLean represented Canada at the 2009 FINA Worlds in Rome where she reached the final of the 4x200 freestyle relay and was a semi-finalist in the 100 free.
Rounding out the men’s squad are Dino teammates Jason Block of Calgary and Colin Miazga of Saskatoon; the U of T duo of Cam Cummings of Oakville and Mike Smerek of St. Catharines, Ont.; UVic teammates Aimeson King of Toronto and Craig Dagnall and Nicholas Sinclair, both of Victoria; Jonathan Gagné of Montreal and Tim Ruse of Pointe-Claire, both students at Concordia; Ottawa’s Adam Best of Ottawa; Michigan’s Richard Funk of Edmonton; Simon Fraser’s David Hibberd of Calgary; Laval’s Dominique Massie-Martel of Ottawa; Texas A&M’s Kyle Troskott of Lethbridge, Alta.; and Stanford’s Michael Zoldos of Newmarket.
Desharnais, King and Massie-Martel will join Balazs and Williams at the world championships in Shanghai before the Universiade. Desharnais and King will swim in open water races while Massie-Martel, who competed at the Junior Worlds in Mexico in 2008, is scheduled to take part in the 4x100 free relay.
In addition to Blondal, the Team Canada support staff includes team leader Ken Radford from Swimming Canada; assistant coaches Peter Carpenter from McGill, Martin Gingras from UQTR, Steve Price from Edmonton Keyano Swim Club and John Rogers from the University of Toronto’s high-performance centre; managers Elizabeth El-Hawary and Kelly Steeves; and therapists Rick Pelletier and Yanic Szoghy.
The delegation is set to leave Canada on August 7. The Universiade swimming competition runs from August 14-19.
NOTES: Canadian swimmers won a team-record six events and 15 Universiade medals in Buffalo in 1993... Their second best performances came in Sheffield, England, in 1991 and in Edmonton in 1983 as they claimed three victories and 14 medals on both occasions...
TEAM CANADA ROSTER
Women
Name School Hometown
Zsofia
Balazs Toronto Toronto,
Ont.
Julianne
Brown Calgary North
Vancouver, B.C.
Dominique Bouchard Missouri North Bay,
Ont.
Hilary Caldwell Victoria London,
Ont.
Lindsay
Delmar Calgary Calgary,
Alta.
MacKenzie Downing Victoria Whitehorse,
Yukon
Caroline Kuczynski Arizona
State Montreal, Que.
Allison
Long Calgary Calgary,
Alta.
Heather MacLean UBC Etobicoke,
Ont.
Sandrine Mainville Cegep
Édouard-Montpetit Boucherville, Que.
Heather Maitland Toronto Toronto,
Ont.
Seanna
Mitchell Calgary Manotick,
Ont.
Cassie Morrice Arizona
State Victoria, B.C.
Hanna Pierse UBC Edmonton,
Alta.
Béatrice Pineau Cegep F.-X.-Garneau Boischatel, Que.
Marie-Pier
Ratelle Laval Trois-Rivières,
Que.
Pamela
Ruksys Toronto Kingston,
Ont.
Paige
Schultz Toronto Toronto,
Ont.
Vanessa
Treasure Toronto Mississauga,
Ont.
Tera Van Beilen UBC Oakville,
Ont.
Nadine Williams Grant MacEwan Sherwood Park, Alta.
Men
Adam Best Ottawa Ottawa,
Ont.
Steven
Bielby McGill Pointe-Claire,
Que.
Jason
Block Calgary Calgary,
Alta.
Zack
Chetrat Toronto Oakville,
Ont.
Cam Cummings Toronto Oakville,
Ont.
Craig Dagnall Victoria Victoria,
B.C.
Xavier Desharnais Montreal Sherbrooke, Que.
David
Dimitrov Calgary Milton,
Ont.
Richard Funk Michigan Edmonton,
Alta.
Jonathan
Gagné Concordia Montreal,
Que.
David Hibberd Simon
Fraser Calgary, Alta.
Aimeson King Victoria Toronto, Ont.
Kier
Maitland UNLV Edmonton,
Alta.
Dominique Massie-Martel Laval Ottawa,
Ont.
Colin
Miazga Calgary Saskatoon,
Sask.
Tim Ruse Concordia Pointe-Claire,
Que.
David Sharpe Dalhousie Halifax,
N.S.
Nicholas Sinclair Victoria Victoria,
B.C.
Mike Smerek Toronto St.
Catharines, Ont.
Matthew Swanston Stanford Newmarket,
Ont.
Kyle Troskott Texas
A&M Lethbridge, Alta.
Michael
Zoldos Stanford Newmarket,
Ont.
STAFF
Position Name University/Club Hometown
Team leader Ken Radford Swimming Canada
Victoria, B.C.
Head coach Mike Blondal Calgary
Calgary, Alta.
Assistant Peter Carpenter McGill
Montreal, Que.
Assistant Martin
Gingras UQTR Quebec City, Que.
Assistant Chris
Nelson - Edmonton, Alta.
Assistant Steve
Price EKSC Edmonton, Alta.
Assistant John
Rogers UTHPC Toronto, Ont.
Video technician Ken
Olson - Calgary, Alta.
Manager Elizabeth
El-Hawary - Halifax, N.S.
Manager Kelly
Steeves - Toronto, Ont.
Therapist Rick
Pelletier - Calgary, Alta.
Therapist Yanic
Szoghy - Montreal, Que.
CANADA’S SWIMMING GOLD MEDALS AT THE SUMMER UNIVERSIADE (21):
2009 (Belgrade, Serbia): Kevyn Peterson, women’s 400m
freestyle
2007 (Bangkok, Thailand): MacKenzie Downing, women’s 100m
butterfly
2007 (Bangkok, Thailand): Audrey Lacroix, women’s 200m
butterfly
2007 (Bangkok, Thailand): Darryl Rudolf, men’s 100m
butterfly
2007 (Bangkok, Thailand): Brian Johns, men’s 200m individual
medley
1993 (Buffalo, USA): Guylaine Cloutier, women’s 100m
breaststroke
1993 (Buffalo, USA): Marianne Limpert, women’s 200m
individual medley
1993 (Buffalo, USA): Nancy Sweetnam, women’s 400m individual
medley
1993 (Buffalo, USA): Women’s 4x200m freestyle relay
1993 (Buffalo, USA): Turlough O’Hare, men’s 400m
freestyle
1993 (Buffalo, USA): Turlough O’Hare, men’s 800m
freestyle
1991 (Sheffield, Great Britain): Guylaine Cloutier, women’s
100m breaststroke
1991 (Sheffield, Great Britain): Patricia Noall, women’s 400m
freestyle
1991 (Sheffield, Great Britain): Deke Botsford, men’s 100m
backstroke
1983 (Edmonton, Canada): Mike West, men’s 100m backstroke
1983 (Edmonton, Canada): Alex Baumann, men’s 200m individual
medley
1983 (Edmonton, Canada): Alex Baumann, men’s 400m individual
medley
1977 (Sofia, Bulgaria): Marion Stuart, women’s 100m
breaststroke
1977 (Sofia, Bulgaria): Graham Smith, men’s 100m
breaststroke
1977 (Sofia, Bulgaria): Anne Gagnon, women’s 200m
breaststroke
1977 (Sofia, Bulgaria): Graham Smith, men’s 200m
breaststroke
-CIS-
