Courtesy: Swimming Canada
Swimming Canada’s team at the Paris 2024 Olympic Games will feature four team captains, selected by a vote of their teammates.
The group includes Kylie Masse, a four-time Olympic medallist set to compete at her third Games, second-time Olympians Mary-Sophie Harvey and Josh Liendo, and 32-year-old Olympic rookie Jeremy Bagshaw, a veteran of multiple other national teams.
“It’s very special and I feel like this is even more special because my teammates voted,” said Masse, who earned bronze in the women’s 100-m backstroke at the Rio 2016 Games, then upgraded to silver as part of a three-medal haul in Tokyo three years ago.
“I hope to be their biggest support and be there for them in whatever way that I can throughout the Games, leading into the Games and after the Games.”
As team captains, Masse, Harvey, Bagshaw and Liendo will take on important leadership responsibilities to support their teammates in preparation for Paris 2024. Their duties include leading team-building activities, hosting swimmer meetings, and serving as a link between swimmers and Swimming Canada leadership staff.
Masse said she aims to create a “summer family” atmosphere where swimmers from a variety of clubs, universities and centres come together to feel included on the national team.
“Having a great dynamic and connection between your teammates only leads to success and a great culture,” Masse said. “It’s wanting the best for one another, helping each other and pushing each other to new limits and achieving great things.”
Bagshaw, who made his senior national team debut at the Toronto 2015 Pan American Games, agreed with that sentiment.
“It’s cool to see that even though it’s my first Olympics the rest of the team and my peers see me as a leader on the team. I hope I can be a guiding voice for the team moving through Paris and hopefully we can bring this team together and make it one of the most cohesive teams of all time,” he said. “We want to make this team as tight as possible and it starts in staging camp once everybody gets together (next week in Caen, France.)”
Harvey said one of her roles is to be “the one in the ready rooms to calm the nerves.”
“Some swimmers get pretty nervous in the ready room because it’s so serious so I’m usually the person to help cool things down. Like, ‘Listen, it’s a swim meet like any other, don’t get overly worked up for it.’ ” said Harvey, who took home seven medals from the Santiago 2023 Pan Am Games.
“I’ve been on the senior national team since 2017. I used to be the baby of the team when I was younger, now I’m moving into the role of being one of the veterans,” she said. “I take this role really (seriously), especially for relays this year we have a lot of new swimmers and younger swimmers.
“It means a lot.”
High Performance Director and National Coach John Atkinson said it was important to work with the High Performance Athlete Advisory Council to develop the idea of a team vote.
“Following this vote we are delighted to announce our captains who will work closely with our team leadership staff at our staging camp in Caen, Normandy, and then through the Games on any pertinent issues that may arise,” Atkinson said. “A key focus for the captains will be to bring the team together, represent our team and have input on how we will work together. It is a great honour to be recognized by their peers and we look forward to working with our captains.”
The Paralympic team expects to announce its captains later this month.
Great picks!