By: Clarissa Andersen

A new season, a fresh start, and an entire country cheering them on. Swimming Canada’s women champions are ready to take and leave their mark on 2017.

With preparation underway for Team Canada Trials in April and the 2017 FINA World Championships in Budapest, Hungary on the horizon, Canada’s female swimmers are building on the incredible momentum of last year with tenacity and passion.

“2016 was a fabulous year for our women’s swim team. They were well prepared and swam fearlessly against the international swimming elite. Fresh new stars came together both individually and in relays to excel on the world stage, while our veteran leaders continued to perform,” said Swimming Canada President Cheryl Gibson.

While they are thankful for the support they received for their 2016 accomplishments, they are looking forward, ready to work, and keeping their goal of the 2020 Tokyo Olympics at the forefront of their minds.

Though their success stemmed from their own hard work and dedication, the athletes know they couldn’t push through the good and the bad without the support of everyone who believes in them.

Whether their fans were cheering them on as they set personal bests or broke Canadian records, their families and friends beamed while they accepted medals, or organizations like The Dairy Farmers of Canada and other partners involved in the Fueling Women Champions initiative encouraged them to pursue their goals, Swimming Canada’s female athletes are thankful for the support, encouragement, praise, and recognition they have received.

After proving themselves at the Rio 2016 Olympic Games, Canada’s female swimmers show no signs of slowing down, and the national women’s team was recently recognized with the Canadian Press Team of the Year Award.

The Canadian Press (CP) sports writers conduct a yearly poll to determine the nation’s top team of either gender, and annually honour the winner with the Canadian Press Team of the Year title.

“Without the female swimmers leading the way, Canada’s effort at the Rio Olympics is middling,” Medicine Hat News sports editor Sean Rooney said. “With them, it’s arguably the best we’ve ever done in a summer Olympiad.”

“The fact they weren’t expected to do nearly as well is a boon to both national pride and female athletics as a whole.”

Up against the Toronto Blue Jays and the Toronto Raptors, these swimmers are only the third female team in a half-century to have earned the award. The women’s soccer team (2012) and the Sandra Schmirler curling rink (1998) were the others.

“The fact that Canada is talking about us and getting excited about what we’re doing as a women’s team is really, really . . . it’s a proud moment for me,” said Olympic bronze medallist Hilary Caldwell.

While these amazing athletes are a source of pride for Swimming Canada and citizens all across the nation, they are also leading the way for young girls interested in sports. A staggering 41 per cent of Canadian girls between the ages of 3-17 years do not participate in sport—and this jumps to 84 per cent in adult women. Inspiring stories, like the ones written by Canada’s amazing female swimmers, will hopefully evoke excitement about the possibility sport can bring, and encourage young women to stay the course.

The Dairy Farmers of Canada and the Fuelling Women Champions initiative believe that by inspiring young women to pursue sports and cheering them on at events, by encouraging them to excel, and by understanding the challenges that women athletes face, you’ll help change the game for young women across the country and encourage a lifetime of health benefits.

For more information on the participation of women in sports you can check out a new report, released by the Dairy Farmers of Canada, along with the Canadian Association for Advancement of Women and Sport, entitled Women in Sport—Fuelling a Lifetime of Participation.

http://www.caaws.ca/e/wp-content/uploads/2016/03/FWC_ResearchPublication_EN_7March2016.pdf

To learn more about Swimming Canada’s  most memorable moments of 2016, check out “16 in ’16” for highlights of their incredible year: