Courtesy: Swimming Canada
Sixteen Canadian athletes are set to compete in the fourth leg of the 2024 Citi World Para Swimming World Series, from April 11-13, in Indianapolis.
Prior to the three days of racing, some members of the delegation will also take part in a classification process from April 8-10.
This is the last international classification event Swimming Canada is attending before the 2024 Olympic & Paralympic Trials, set for May 13-19.
“Beyond offering a high quality long course racing opportunity, the WPS World Series event in Indianapolis is a key event for our swimmers to continue along the complex pathway toward Paralympic Games eligibility as established by the IPC,” said Wayne Lomas, Swimming Canada’s Associate Director of High Performance and Para Swimming National Coach.
“We look forward to several swimmers advancing to the next stage by undergoing classification, participating in a World Series event, or attaining a Paris minimum qualifying standard while in Indianapolis. These milestones pave the way for them being eligible for selection at the upcoming Trials.”
Canadians set to go through classification in Indianapolis are Tokyo 2020 Paralympian Aly Van Wick-Smart of Toronto and Hunter Helberg of Fort McMurray, Alta., both of whom are having classification reviews done.
For her part, Mary Jibb, a native of Bracebridge, Ont., who already has a Paris MQS, is being internationally classified for the first time.
Additionally, six of the Canadian swimmers attending this World Series event were classified at the Ken Demchuk Invitational last December in Surrey, B.C. This will be their first international competition as newly, internationally classified swimmers.
The group includes Ali Diehl of Prince Albert, Sask., Charlie Giammichele of Hamilton, Ont., Riley Martin of Peachland, B.C., Sebastian Massabie of Surrey, Hannah Ouellette of Saskatoon and Leo Zheng of Regina.
Other Canadians set to compete in the capital of Indiana include Tokyo Paralympians Nikita Ens of Meadow Lake, Sask., and Shelby Newkirk of Saskatoon, former world championship participants Justine Morrier of Saint-Jean-sur-Richelieu, Que., Myriam Soliman of Saint-Hubert, Que., and Emma Grace Van Dyk of Port Colborne, Ont., as well as Antonio Fricano of Ancaster, Ont., and Sumbul Zafar of Etobicoke, Ont.
Janet Dunn, Swimming Canada’s Para Swimming Performance Pathway Coach & National Classification Lead, will be the delegation’s team leader and head classification advocate in Indy.
Streaming of the Indianapolis World Series event is available on the U.S. Paralympics Swimming Facebook page, and at www.usparaswimming.org and www.paralympic.org/swimming.
Seven of the season’s nine Citi World Para Swimming World Series events take place between February and June, before the Paris 2024 Paralympic Games (Aug. 28-Sept. 8). The campaign will then wrap up in November and December with the last two competitions of the calendar.
Following Indianapolis, the Series will resume next month in Singapore.