SARASOTA, Fla. – Ten long distance hopefuls from across Canada recently gathered in Florida for a weeklong training camp at the Sarasota Sharks club.

Swimming Canada Distance/Open Water Coach Mark Perry and Markham Aquatic Club Head Coach Sean Baker pushed the young swimmers in endurance and technique, with two workouts most days in the outdoor pool.

The camp is part of Swimming Canada’s strategic plan which includes a larger emphasis on developing distance swimmers. Early identification and development is key to developing competitive swimmers, and Perry sees great potential in this young generation.

“This is a group of young, talented swimmers who are focused on being the next generation of Canadian distance athletes,” said Perry. “It’s a wonderful environment which allows them to thrive during a week of great training. The coaching staff did a fantastic job and learned a lot along the way to take back to their own programs.”

With only three months to go until the 2024 Olympic & Paralympic Trials, presented by Bell, these promising young talents are hoping this camp will make a difference for them at Trials, and beyond.

It was the first ever Swimming Canada camp for Abby McLeod of the Tsawwassen, B.C.-based Winskill Dolphins, the youngest member of the group at 13. While she’s working on improving her 400-m freestyle time, she can see a future for herself in the world of distance swimming.

“This is a good opportunity for me to train harder practices and be around different coaches, to get feedback from everyone. Training with these harder practices will help my endurance for the 1,500, 800, and 400-m races, and hopefully I can work towards faster times throughout the year.”

Simon Fonseca, 15, from Montreal’s CAMO club, hopes the camp will help propel him to his goal of making the 2024 Junior Pan Pacific Championships.

“I always like to be at training camps because they’re fun,” said Fonseca. “Normally, I’m really tired because of school and now I can focus on swimming and my goals, like the Junior Pan Pacs and the world (junior) open water championships. So this is a great start to achieve those goals.”

Rounding out the group of swimmers were Naomi Mynott (Winskill Dophins), Mia Thomas (Etobicoke Swim Club), Delphine Piatera-Mercier (Club de Natation de Sherbrooke), Reilly Lefsrud (Pointe-Claire Swim Club), Aiden Kirk (Kelowna AquaJets), Zach McLeod (Winskill Dolphins), Jordan Schaepper (Nepean Kanata Barracudas), and Max Vorobiev (Markham Aquatic Club).

Also joining the coaching staff were Salim Laoubi (Natation Gatineau), Amélie Poirier (Club de Natation de Sherbrooke), Judy Baker (Winskill Dolphins), and Martin Gingras, National Coach (Programming and Coach Development).