As Canada Artistic Swimming’s Senior National Team prepares for a busy summer, Catherine Barrett has decided to move on to other challenges, announcing her retirement from the national team program.
Hailing from St John’s, Newfoundland, Catherine moved away from home in 2014 to pursue her artistic swimming dreams in Ontario, where she quickly established herself on the national scene, winning numerous national championships medals. She was a part of the Junior National Team that competed at the FINA Junior World Championships in Budapest in 2018, after which she joined the Senior National Team in the full-time training environment in Montreal.
Catherine was a part of the gold-medal winning team at the 2019 Pan Am Games in Lima, securing a spot for the 2020 Tokyo Olympics. She identifies standing on the podium in Peru as the favourite moment of her career.
“I’d like to thank everyone who has supported me throughout my career. It has been an honour to have the opportunity to represent Canada and also Newfoundland on the international stage”, stated Catherine. “I will be pursuing my undergraduate degree with a look towards medical school and ultimately working in women’s health.”
Catherine also hopes to continue her work in sport as a coach, and to give back to the province in which she started in the sport.
“My home province of Newfoundland and Labrador motivates me to become a coach. I have a strong desire to give back to the community that raised me and inspired me to reach for my dreams. I have been coached by many coaches in many different styles and I hope to learn from each of them and apply my preferred strategies from each to my own coaching.”
Canada Artistic Swimming Chief Sport Office Julie Healy remembers Catherine fondly.
“Catherine is an exceptional young woman who was always the quintessential team-first athlete. She gave so much of herself to the sport and her teammates and represented Canada on the international stage with great pride. Canada Artistic Swimming is very grateful for all her contributions and wishes Catherine the very best for the next stage in her life.”