OTTAWA – A squad of 26 Canadian swimmers is set to compete at the Doha 2024 World Aquatics Championships from Feb. 2-18. This will be the first international competition of the new year, with athletes setting their sights on the Olympic Games later in the season.

“We are delighted to announce our team for the World Championships in Doha, Qatar,” said Swimming Canada High Performance Director and National Coach John Atkinson. “The championships will provide a great opportunity for our selected athletes to race against some of the best athletes in the world early in the new year, and this will be very positive.”

Leading the team is three-time Olympian Katerine Savard of Montreal’s CAMO club, who will be competing at her 13^th world championships (long course and short course combined). The versatile butterfly and freestyle swimmer made her long-course worlds debut in 2011, is one of 16 returnees from this summer’s worlds in Fukuoka, Japan.

“I’m super happy to represent Canada for another world championships,” said Savard. “Every competition is a new opportunity to test what I’m working on going towards Olympic trials. It will be my seventh [long course] world champs. I’ve been close to getting back into the Top 8 from last summer, and I’m hoping I can prove to myself that I can still be one of the best butterfly swimmers in the world.”

Sienna Angove, Ashley McMillan (HPC Ontario/Greater Ottawa), Laila Oravsky (Barrie Trojans), Sarah Fournier (CNQ), Antoine Sauvé (CAMO), Blake Tierney (HPC-Vancouver

/UBC Thunderbirds) will be making their world championships debuts. Raben Dommann (HPC Vancouver/UBC Thunderbirds), who swam open water at worlds in 2019, and Tessa Cieplucha, who has an the Tokyo 2020 Olympic Games and two short-course worlds under her belt, will also make their debuts in the world long-course pool.

Coming off a successful Pan American Games in Santiago, Chile, where he won five medals (four bronze and one silver), Tierney hopes to build on his performances.

“I’m super excited and happy to be given the opportunity to represent Canada at my first world championships,” said Tierney. “I had a great time and learned a lot at Pan Ams and can’t wait to race for Canada again.”

Doha hosted the short-course world championships in 2014, and has been a stop during the World Cup tour.

More information about the championships and schedule can be found here.

SWIMMERS