Commonwealth Swimmers Make Up Half of Canada's 2016 Olympic Swim Team
TORONTO – On Sunday, the Canadian Olympic Committee (COC) and Swimming Canada named the 27 athletes nominated to represent Team Canada in swimming at the Rio 2016 Olympic Games from August 5 to 21.
Included among the athletes is two-time Olympic medallist Ryan Cochrane of the Swimming Canada High Performance Centre, Victoria and his teammate, 2013 World Championship medallist Hilary Caldwell.
Other notable names include world championship medallists Emily Overholt and Martha McCabe of the High Performance Centre, Vancouver. Veteran Audrey Lacroix of the High Performance Centre, Ontario, will be competing in her third Olympic Games while Overholt, and new national record holders Kylie Masse and Penny Oleksiak will attend their first Games.
The pool swimmers will join open water swimmer Richard Weinberger, a bronze medallist at the London 2012 Olympic Games.
The athletes earned their spots at the 2016 Olympic & Para-swimming Trials, presented by RBC, which were held from Tuesday to Sunday this week.
The swimming competitions will take place August 6-13 at the Olympic Aquatics Stadium. The open water competition will be August 15-16 in Fort Copacabana.
At Rio 2016, Canada will field a team of more than 315 athletes.
QUOTES
“You have to be able to perform when it counts. We want to bring an Olympic team that knows it can make second swims, not just hoping to get a hand on the wall to get a best time. I think it’s more than that.”
Ryan Cochrane, two-time Olympian, two-time Olympic medallist
“I can’t tell you how many times I have been thinking about this moment, probably more than 100. Just having this dream finally come true is surreal. At the same time, I know I have worked my butt off for the past four years.”
Noemie Thomas, Rio 2016 Team Canada Athlete
““It is so fitting to have our dynamic swimming team as our first official nomination for the Rio Games. It is an exciting time to be a fan of swimming and of Olympic sport in Canada and we saw the potential of these athletes this past week and last summer in Toronto. We can’t wait to cheer them on in a few months in Rio.”
Tricia Smith, President, Canadian Olympic Committee
“As a former national team swimmer, I couldn’t be more proud to see this team leading the way to Rio for Team Canada. On behalf of the Government of Canada and all Canadians, I wish our swimmers well as they fine-tune their preparations over the next few months to make waves in Rio.”
Carla Qualtrough, Minister of Sport and Persons with Disabilities
The Swimming Canada team which will represent Canada at the Rio 2016 includes:
Athletes:
| First | Last | Hometown |
| Javier | Acevedo | Scarborough, ON |
| Ashton | Baumann | Ottawa, ON |
| Dominique | Bouchard | North Bay, ON |
| Hilary | Caldwell | White Rock, BC |
| Ryan | Cochrane | Victoria, BC |
| Santo | Condorelli | Kenora, ON |
| Kennedy | Goss | Toronto, ON |
| Yuri | Kisil | Calgary, AB |
| Audrey | Lacroix | Pont-Rouge, QC |
| Brittany | MacLean | Toronto, ON |
| Sandrine | Mainville | Boucherville, QC |
| Kylie | Masse | LaSalle, ON |
| Martha | McCabe | Toronto, ON |
| Rachel | Nicol | Lethbridge, AB |
| Penny | Oleksiak | Toronto, ON |
| Emily | Overholt | West Vancouver, BC |
| Sydney | Pickrem | Oldsmar, FL |
| Taylor | Ruck | Scottsdale, AZ |
| Katerine | Savard | Pont-Rouge, QC |
| Erika | Seltenreich-Hodgson | Ottawa, ON |
| Kierra | Smith | Kelowna, BC |
| Noemie | Thomas | Richmond, BC |
| Markus | Thormeyer | Markham, ON |
| Chantal | Van Landeghem | Winnipeg, MB |
| Evan | Van Moerkerke | Tilsonburg, ON |
| Richard | Weinberger | Vancouver, BC |
| Michelle | Williams | Toronto, ON |
Coaches:
| Position | First | Last | Hometown |
| Coach | Tom | Johnson | Vancouver, BC |
| Coach | Linda | Keifer | Toronto, ON |
| Coach | Ryan | Mallette | Victoria, BC |
| Coach | Steve | Price | Vancouver, BC |
| Coach | Kevin | Thorburn | Etobicoke, ON |
| Coach | Ben | Titley | Toronto, ON |
Prior to being named to the final Canadian Rio 2016 Team, all nominations are subject to approval by the Canadian Olympic Committee’s Team Selection Committee following its receipt of nominations by all National Sport Federations.
Swimming Canada also announced the provisional nominations of Jason Block and MacKenzie Darragh. These nominations are contingent on Canada qualifying for the men’s 4×100 medley relay at the 2016 Olympic Games. FINA will confirm the final list of qualified relays on June 3, which are based on the fastest times in the world achieved during the qualification period of March 1, 2015 to May 31, 2016 (according to the FINA World Rankings).
