World Junior Championship medalist Danielle Hanus will be moving across Canada next season to train at the High Performance Centre – Victoria with Ryan Mallette.
Hanus, who currently swims with the Newmarket Stingrays under 2015 World Junior coach Alan Swanston, will be joining the likes of World Championships medalists Ryan Cochrane and Hilary Caldwell.
“The coaching staff and the athletes there were just incredibly amazing and helpful,” Hanus told Swimming Canada. “They were so welcoming into the program. It just felt right for me, it clicked and it’s something I’ve always wanted to be part of. I wanted to be the best athlete I could training with the best athletes out there.”
Hanus is a backstroker just like Caldwell who managed to take home a bronze medal in the 200m backstroke at the 2011 World Championships in Shanghai.
While Caldwell focuses on the 200m backstroke where she’s the senior Canadian record holder in both the long and short course events, Hanus is more focused towards the 100.
Last season Hanus broke the short course 100m backstroke 15-17 age group record at the Ontario Junior International at the Toronto Pan Am Pool. There, she squeezed in a win with a 58.19.
Later on in the season after she was chosen to represent Canada at the World Junior Championships, she put up a 1:00.44 in the big pool to reset that age group mark. Hanus also earned herself a bronze medal in the 50m backstroke.
While she’s had plenty of success at the age group level, she’s looking to get a lot out of training with those who have their eyes set on performing on the senior international stage.
“I can learn from Hilary for sure,” Hanus told Swimming Canada. “Hopefully I will improve my backstroke to be as good as her someday. Even just training with her will be a great opportunity to learn how she trains and what I can do to improve for the future and put myself out there on the international stage, hopefully the Olympic stage.”
While one of the primary reasons Hanus is going to Victoria is to train at the centre, she will also be pursuing a degree from the University of Victoria.
Hanus took a trip to the centre in January where she also toured the UVic campus. Hanus will also be competing for the university next year, representing the Vikes in the CIS.
Hopefully this will work out well for her, but aren’t Ryan and Hilary retiring after this year? Who will she be training with?
In my mind the NCAA would have been a much better choice for her. With her talent she could have been a finalist. It does sound like swimming is her priority, as has been the case for other swimmers at the Victoria HPC. Education is pursued on a part time basis, or delayed. Just different priorities.
Good luck to Danielle.
Hilary Caldwell is still on the young side, I don’t see her retiring after this year. The HPC in Victoria has been a great site for the development of swimmers on home soil for a number of years now.