Canada Artistic Swimming names dynamic Senior National Team

Following its Fall Selection Camp, Canada Artistic Swimming has announced the 12 athletes who will make up its 2019 Senior National Team. The camp took place November 14-18 at the Institut National du Sport du Québec (INS-Quebec) in Montreal’s Olympic Park.

The camp was planned and led by CAS’s NextGen Technical Director and Head Coach Leslie Sproule, under the watchful eye of new Head Coach Gábor Szauder, the Hungarian native who is relocating to Canada from Slovakia and taking over the head coaching duties. The selected athletes will begin training under Szauder’s leadership at INS-Quebec in January of 2019.

CAS President, Judi Enns Bradette, sees the tremendous potential of this newly announced team. “This is an exciting time for Artistic Swimming in Canada with these 12 athletes demonstrating the strength of our sport across the country. They are a highly skilled and con dent group who together as a team will take aim at the world’s best.”

According to Julie Healy, Chief Sports Officer, Canada Artistic Swimming, “These athletes represent the widest-ever geographic basis of our national team, coming from five provinces from Alberta to Newfoundland. This best-ever scenario indicates that our coaches and clubs across the country are really working hard with their athletes to prepare for and achieve the performance level required for our national team.”

With nine of the twelve athletes having been part of Canada Artistic Swimming’s 2017 NextGen Team and/or its 2018 World Junior Team, this will be a talented and motivated group. Three veterans join them to provide a solid core as the lineup has its eyes firmly fixed on success in both 2020 and 2024. Coach Szauder is excited to begin working with the group. “Before I arrived at the selection camp, I had a vision for the Canadian team, and I was looking for the athletes who would fit into that vision. My goal is to have a fast, dynamic team with powerful athletes. I wasn’t looking for ballet dancers, but rather for warriors who know everything about dance!”

And Szauder feels this team has the potential to dominate on the world stage. “They have been well trained, and I would like to thank their coaches for the hard work and outstanding preparation of these athletes. They have excellent physical ability to control their movements, and dominate through their focus, their behaviour and their performance. I have found my warriors!”

The team will be laser-focused on its preparation for the Olympic Qualification event, the 2019 Pan American Games in Lima, Peru, which is taking place immediately after the 2019 FINA World Championships in Gwangju, Korea. To be ready to have their best performances at the World Championships and the Pan Am Games, the Canadian team will be competing in the 2019 FINA Artistic Swimming World Series, including the Canada Open in Quebec City, May 30-June 1, 2019.