Meet Wrap Up: Winter Whiteout & Pentathlon (Feb 6-8)
Hi everyone,
I’m giving Coach’s Corner a try after all the great posts Chris has shared.
This weekend I’m in a bit of a unique spot. I’m currently in Ocala, Florida attending Swimming Canada’s Junior National Development Camp. This camp brings together some of the top developing Olympic-stream swimmers in the country, along with senior coaches from across Canada. This camp also serves as my first Olympic stream training camp as I have attended many on the Paralympic stream and this also serves as my first morning practice while it was -3 out! I got a great photo of the pool that morning.
The purpose of this camp is coach development—to keep learning, growing, and bringing that knowledge back to the Lasers. I was identified as a strong candidate for this program by Martin Gringas, who had a very successful Club coaching career and served as the Head Coach for the 2024 Paralympic Games in Paris.
While I’m here learning a lot, I am missing a weekend of racing with our swimmers I continue to stay connected with the team through Meet Mobile and through phone calls and texts with Chris. This time, I wanted to share my perspective on the meet while being away, based on where our athletes are in training and where we’re headed next.
First, I want to say how excited I am about the progress our club continues to make. We’re seeing real growth across the program—strong commitment, quality swimmers moving up, and athletes hitting higher qualifying standards. This weekend, our athletes raced through fatigue. We are right in the middle of a major training build and adaptation phase.
Training and racing during this phase creates stress on the body, which leads to adaptation and improvement—everything from aerobic fitness to VO₂ max. It also gives athletes the chance to practice racing skills from physical, tactical and mental performance skills while the athletes are tired, which is a huge part of long-term planning. To put it simply, we are asking the athletes to hold their form, commit to racing over the pressure of the soreness and fatigue they are experiencing.
We saw many best times at the Winter Whiteout meet and the Goldfins Pentathlon, including two Canadian Records from Shelby Newkirk and a 7.23-second best time from Max Zhao, putting him less than half a second away from a Trials cut and a couple more athletes locking in some Junior A times so they can compete at that next level. Across both meets, we also saw best times in a wide range of events at both competitions, which is really exciting, which those in our younger groups who are stepping up to race fly. We had a strong number of new A Provincial qualifying times and first-time qualifiers, showing some development across the groups. Performing at this level while carrying fatigue tells us our training is doing exactly what it should—building a strong aerobic base and improving technical and tactical racing skills, while also highlighting the areas we still need to tighten up as we move toward our priority competitions. This sets us up well for an exciting short course season with Junior A Provincials, Man/Sask, and then into the Bridge City Spring Classic that we’re hosting in April.
Here at camp in Florida, the National Development Coach has reminded the athletes daily to stay connected to their goals. The message is simple: perform, behave, and hold yourself to the standard of your goal every single day. This camp has been challenging, but that’s where real growth happens.
As we look ahead to our two upcoming club training camps in Arizona and Saskatoon, I strongly encourage our athletes to commit to leveling up. Do as many things right as you can—every day—to make yourself better, which makes your team better, which then makes you better. This is a Mike Thompson quote Chris shared at our 2025 training camp.
I am appreciative for the opportunities I’ve been given, which come through the strength of our Paralympic program. These experiences help support a club that is moving in a very strong direction. The growth we’re seeing now will continue to push our entire program forward. I would also like to note that the future is here. Many of our younger athletes who entered the competitive program in 2020 when I did are now leading the way—for themselves, for the club, and for the next generation coming up behind them. I am excited to get back on deck with the team and continue to support the great progress we are making.
Pentathlon by the Numbers:
Pentathlon Podiums:
Winter Whiteout by the Numbers:
Winter Whiteout Podiums:
New Club Records:
