The London Aquatic Club was represented by seven swimmers at the 2016 Olympic Trials and Para Swimming Trials at the Toronto Pan-Am Sports Centre in Scarborough in early April.
Devin Gotell was selected to his third Paralympic team on the strength of his performance in the 100 metre backstroke, shaving more than a second from his previous best time. Devin represented Canada in Beijing in 2008 and London in 2012, and was also a triple medalist at last summer’s Para Pan-Am Games.
Maggie MacNeil will also represent Canada this summer in Hawaii as a member of Canada’s 30-swimmer strong Junior Pan Pacific team, which will compete against teams from the U.S., Australia and Japan, among others.
Also competing at the Trials for LAC were Jessica Allen, David Armstrong, Paulina Bond (who was recently named Western University’s 2016 female athlete of the year), Ryan Estabrooks and Brayden Salmon.
Bond and MacNeil established new LAC club records in the 100 freestyle and 100 butterfly, respectively.
On the Saturday of the competition, 55 LAC swimmers and staff arrived to cheer on their teammates, as well as complete a training session in the main competition pool between the racing sessions. It was an opportunity for them to see ‘up close’ how Canada’s best swimmers race.
LAC also sent a group of 16 swimmers to Florida for a training camp over the March Break, and the club will host its annual Hollandia Invitational swim meet in mid-May, which will be attended by 800 swimmers from across southern Ontario.
Story submitted by London Aquatic Club
