Over 220 Canadian athletes aged 25 to 80+ from 22 clubs and 6 provinces took part in the FINA World Masters that were held July 28 – August 2 at Parc Jean Drapeau in Montreal.
The competition was marked by amazing performances from ever-enthusiastic athletes, but also by a few glitches along the way. On July 28th, it was cold and rained all day but the swimmers managed to compete and finish the day on time. On Wednesday, July 30, there was a thunderstorm and it was pouring rain so everything and everyone was soaked. This delayed the competition for about two hours but they managed to finish only 45 minutes later than scheduled.
“On Friday August 1st we faced two huge issues”, said Organizing Committee member Vivianne Slade. “We had to compete music-wise against the OSHEAGA Rock Concert that started at noon. They had 5 stages around the Jean Drapeau Park but their main stage was right beside the pool. Their music was so loud that we had to increase our system to the point where we blew one system and by doing that we were cutting the underwater speakers. In order for us to finish our competition with Combos that day (which finished about three hours late) the teams had to bang on metal or count out loud to keep their timing.”
But the event went on despite all obstacles. “It was a pleasure working with this organizing committee”, said Chief referee Barbara McNamee. “Claudie Dumais, Isabelle McCann and Vivianne Slade were the most wonderful and organized people I have had the pleasure to work with in many years. I have the most respect for the coaches, athletes and officials for being so flexible and understanding towards all the obstacles we faced during this Championship.”
Canada’s own Dot Padget was not only a competing athlete at the event, but also acted as Canadian Head of delegation and as a judge. She mentions: “It was exciting to see so many Canadian swimmers here! There were Olympians (Kelly Kryzka-Erwin, Isabelle Rampling, Valérie Welsh), a number of past national team members as well as less seasoned club athletes.”
“But the greatest thing about World Masters is how the swimmers support each other, no matter the country or club. In a single day, we saw many of the “young swimmers” cheering for the 80 and 70 age group soloists and then we had those same athletes staying to watch the 25-29 and the 30-39 solos and being so impressed. It was great!”
Many Canadian athletes went home with medals (see list below), but all of them left with a head full of great memories.
Solos
25 – 29 – Isabelle Blanchet-Rampling (CAEM) – Gold / Courtney Grant (Pacific Elite Masters) – Silver
40 – 49 – Leanne Bourassa (CAEM) – Bronze
50 – 59 – Carol Fitzsimmons (Calgary Aquamums) – Gold / Lorraine Veilleux (Aquadanse) – Silver
70 – 79 – Loretta Patterson (Edmonton Aquamasters) – Silver / Marjorie Anderson (Edmonton Aquamasters) – Bronze
80 and over – Patricia Harvie – (Olympium Synchro) – Silver
Duet
25 – 29 – Courtney Grant / Kimberly Paterson (Pacific Elite Masters) –Bronze
30 – 39 – Julia McKay/Kelly McKay (Synchro TO) – Bronze
50 – 59 – Carol Fitzsimmons / Kelly Kryczka-Irwin – (Calgary Aquamums) Gold
Teams
25 – 34 – Pacific Elite Masters – Gold / Synchro TO – Silver / Durham Synchro – Bronze
35 – 49 – Gloucester Masters – Gold / Toronto Tsunami – Bronze
50 – 64 – Calgary Aquamums – Gold
65 and over – Edmonton Aquamasters – Gold
Combo
25 – 39 – Club Les Vestales – Gold / Club Aquatique Édouard-Montpetit – Bronze
40 – 64 – Calgary Aquamums – Gold / Synchro Les Bélugas – Bronze
Many Canadian officials were also on hand for the event. “It was exciting having so many Canadian Judges because they are FINA level A and B which brings the quality of judging to a higher level”, said Rose Cody from the FINA Commission. Canada was represented by (by order in the picture) Nancy Reed – Judge, Isabelle McCann – Assistant Referee, Janice McLaughlin – Judge, Josée Daudelin – Judge, Ginette Piché-Lapointe – Judge, Jackie Hiscock – Judge, Dot Padget – Judge/Head of Delegation/Athlete, Madeleine Ramsay – Judge and Audrey Sribney – Chief Scorer.
The next FINA World Masters will be held in 2015 in Kazan, Russia, at the same time as the FINA World Championships.