2013 Summer Universiade: Eight Olympians highlight Canadian swim roster

Photo credit Francois Laplante, Freestyle Photography

OTTAWA (CIS) – Canadian Interuniversity Sport, in conjunction with Swimming Canada, announced Thursday the 38 student-athletes who will represent Canada in swimming at the 2013 Summer Universiade in Kazan, Russia (July 6-17).

Summer Universiade website: http://kazan2013.ru/en
Team Canada website: http://english.cis-sic.ca/universiade/summer/2013 

Highlighting the red and white roster are no less than eight members of the 2012 Canadian Olympic team, including Stephanie Horner of Beaconsfield, Que., Savannah King of Vernon, B.C., Brittany MacLean of Etobicoke, Ont., Katerine Savard of Pont-Rouge, Que., Tera Van Beilen of Oakville, Ont., Tommy Gossland of Nanaimo, B.C., Alec Page of Cortes Island, B.C., and David Sharpe of Halifax.

MacLean, a University of Georgia student, reached the 400-metre freestyle final in London, finishing in seventh place.

Horner, who stars at the University of Victoria, and King, the reigning two-time CIS female swimmer of the year from UBC, also wore the Maple Leaf at the 2008 Olympics in Beijing.

Van Beilen, also of UBC, and Sharpe, who swims for Dalhousie, are among 14 returning athletes who competed at the last Summer Universiade in Shenzhen, China, in 2011. Six of them – including Sharpe - will make their third straight FISU Games appearance, a streak that started in 2009 in Belgrade, Serbia.

No sport has brought more Universiade glory to Canada over the years. Since the inaugural biennial competition was held in 1959, Canadian swimmers have won 98 medals, 21 of them gold – both record tallies for the country.   

Canada returned from Shenzhen with three podium finishes, all of them silver medals, including Van Beilen in the 50 and 100 breaststroke events, as well as Hilary Caldwell, a former UVic standout from White Rock, B.C., in the 200 backstroke.

“We have a really strong team, with 14 members of the FISU contingent going on to the FINA world championships in Barcelona immediately afterwards. There’s a mix of experience and first-time senior team members on the team and we’re looking forward to representing Canada,” said John Atkinson, high performance director for Swimming Canada. “The event has grown over the years and is now an exceptionally high standard event. It’s certainly played its part in the development of many Olympians. It is a great opportunity for these swimmers to experience a world-class competition in a multi-sport village environment, which will set them up well for the quad as we move towards the 2016 Olympics in Rio.”

The Canadian squad heading to Kazan is comprised of 19 women and 19 men, including 30 student-athletes from CIS universities, five from NCAA schools and three from the Quebec Cegep system.

The University of Toronto Varsity Blues lead the way with six selections. UBC, UVic and Calgary follow with five representatives apiece.

The Universiade swimming competition runs from July 10-17. The FINA world championships in Barcelona follow from July 28 to August 4.

NOTES: Kelly Aspinall of Nanoose Bay, B.C., wrapped up his exceptional university career at UBC this season with CIS male-swimmer-of-the-year honours... Gossland, his former teammate at UBC, had claimed the award in 2011-12... Canada had its best Universiade performance in swimming at the 1993 games in Buffalo, USA, where the team captured 15 medals, six of them gold... The Canucks’ second best tallies 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 - Selected Events

Katie Caldwell   McGill   White Rock, B.C. 200 IM
Geneviève Cantin  Laval   Jonquière, Que.  200 Back
Lindsay Delmar   Calgary   Calgary, Alta.  200 Free
Jade Dusablon   Ste-Foy (Cegep) Quebec City, Que. Open Water
Alisha Harricharan  Guelph   Brampton, Ont.  100 Fly
Stephanie Horner  Victoria  Beaconsfield, Que. 200 Fly
Savannah King   UBC   Vernon, B.C.  400-800 Free
Caroline Lapierre-Lemire UQTR   Rouyn-Noranda, Que. 50-100 Free
Brittany MacLean  Georgia   Etobicoke, Ont.  200-400 Free
Sandrine Mainville  Ed.-Montpetit (Cegep) Boucherville, Que. 50-100 Free
Heather Maitland  Toronto   Toronto, Ont.  800 Free - OW
Ashley McGregor  Texas A&M  Pointe-Claire, Que. 200 Breast
Marni Oldershaw  Michigan  Oakville, Ont.  400 IM
Tianna Rissling   Calgary   Redcliff, Alta.  100 Br 400 IM
Katerine Savard   Ste-Foy (Cegep) Cap-Rouge, Que. 100-200 Fly
Paige Schultz   Toronto   Toronto, Ont.  200 IM
Brooklyn Snodgrass  Indiana   Calgary, Alta.  100 Back
Gabrielle Soucisse  Montreal  Montreal, Que.  100-200 Back
Tera Van Beilen  UBC   Oakville, Ont.  100-200 Breast

Previous Universiade Experience
2011: Delmar, Mainville, Maitland, Schultz, Van Beilen
2009: Maitland

MEN
  
Coleman Allen   UBC   Barrie, Ont.  200 Free 100 Fly
Kelly Aspinall   UBC   Nanoose Bay, B.C. 50 Free 100 Back
Steven Bielby   McGill   Pointe-Claire, Que. 200-400 IM
Jason Block   Calgary   Calgary, Alta.  100-200 Breast
Will Brothers   Victoria  Victoria, B.C.  1500 Free
Zack Chetrat   Toronto   Oakville, Ont.  200 Fly
Xavier Desharnais  Montreal  Sherbrooke, Que. Open Water
Frank Despond   Toronto   Milgrove, Ont.  400 Free
Richard Funk   Michigan  Edmonton, Alta. 100-200 Breast
Tommy Gossland  UBC   Nanaimo, B.C.  100 Free
Eric Hedlin   Victoria  Victoria, B.C.  400-1500 Free
Aimeson King   Victoria  Toronto, Ont.  Open Water
Edward Liu   Toronto   Toronto, Ont.  100 Fly
Chris Manning   Toronto   Brantford, Ont.  50 Free
Dominique Massie-Martel Laval   Ottawa, Ont.  100 Free
Alec Page   Victoria  Cortes Island, B.C. 200 Fr 200-400 IM
David Sharpe   Dalhousie  Halifax, N.S.  200 Fly
Gleb Suvorov   Calgary   Toronto, Ont.  200 Back
Russell Wood   Calgary   Calgary, Alta.  100-200 Back

Previous Universiade Experience
2011: Bielby, Block, Chetrat, Desharnais, Funk, King, Massie-Martel, Sharpe
2009: Aspinall, Bielby, Chetrat, Desharnais, Sharpe

STAFF  

Position  - Name -  Club/School - Hometown

High Performance Director John Atkinson  National Team  Ottawa, Ont.
Team Leader   Lance Cansdale  -   Halifax, N.S.
Manager   Bette El-Hawary -   Halifax, N.S.
Coach    Jan Bidrman  National Swim Centre Calgary, Alta.
Coach    Ryan Mallette  Victoria Academy Victoria, B.C.
Coach    Jozsef Nagy  National Swim Centre Vancouver, B.C.
Coach    Marc-André Pelletier CSQ   Quebec City, Que.
Coach    Steve Price  UBC   Vancouver, B.C.
Coach (open water)  Mohamed Marouf CALAC  Montreal, Que.
Massage Therapist  Brian Beckwith  -   Halifax, N.S.
Massage Therapist  Rick Pelletier  -   Calgary, Alta.
Biomechanist   Ryan Atkison  -   Toronto, Ont.
Biomechanist   Allan Wrigley  -   Victoria, B.C.
Video Analyst   Graham Olson  -   Vancouver, B.C.

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

About the Summer Universiade

The Summer Universiade is an international multi-sport event that takes place every two years and is second only to the Olympic Games in the number of participating athletes and countries. The Universiade is open to competitors who are at least 17 and less than 28 years of age as of January 1 in the year of the Games. Participants must be full-time students at a post-secondary institution (university, college, CEGEP) or have graduated from a post-secondary institution in the year preceding the event.

About Swimming Canada

Swimming Canada serves as the national governing body of competitive swimming. We inspire Canadians through world leading performances to embrace a lifestyle of swimming, sport, fitness and health. The federation comprises 75,000 members and 400 swim clubs across the country. Canadians are global leaders in high performance swimming and development for both able-bodied swimmers and swimmers with a disability.

About Canadian Interuniversity Sport

Canadian Interuniversity Sport is the national governing body of university sport in Canada. Every year, 11,000 student-athletes and 700 coaches from 54 universities and four regional associations vie for 21 national championships in 12 different sports. CIS also provides high performance international opportunities for Canadian student-athletes at Winter and Summer Universiades, as well as numerous world university championships. For further information, visit www.cis-sic.ca or follow us on:

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