Two West Vancouver Otter Swimmers have won brozen medals at the Speedo Western Canadian Championships that took place in Edmonton. This meet is considered the first national level competition that swimmers are able to compete at.
As many as eight swimmers qualified for the Westerns, but only two won medals: Natascha Borromeo and Onur Gul earned medals in the Women’s 200 m backstroke and Men’s 100 m backstroke events, respectively. Gemma Durand, Queenie Gong, Cici Sun, Adam Jozsa, Adam Wong, and James Gao were those who qualified for the competition.
Winner Onur Gul says commitment and consistency are two fundamental principles of reaching high-level competitions in sports, and it has taken him a long time to polish these skills. “Every time I developed a goal and if I were consistently training at my highest level with a total commitment to my program, I would reach my goals far quicker than expected,” he said.
Gul has been swimming competitively for over ten years, and said there are many qualities that he is thankful for. “Swimming multiple times at high-level competitions has allowed me to develop resiliency to stress and nerves, a skill which has benefited me significantly during stressful moments outside of the sport,” he said.
Natascha Borromeo said she feels a mix of excitement and anxiety leading up to the race.
“I try to calm myself by remembering that there is nothing I can do in the moment except put all of my hard work into action. Personally, it is much more mentally demanding than it is physically,” she says.
Janusz Kaczmarek, the head coach of West Van Otters, says they focus on coaching both the group and the individual. Janusz says swimming in a group is important because athletes can celebrate wins and work through losses together. “Ultimately, swimming is an individual sport and having a strong partnership between a coach and each individual swimmer is an important contributor to a swimmer’s success. We believe that this partnership is the reason so many of our swimmers find success.”
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