Coming off of winning 6 medals at the Tokyo Olympics, Swimming Canada is back to work at their two High Performance Centres located in Ontario and Vancouver. 14 of the 26 swimmers on the Canadian Olympic team came from one of the High Performance Centres. Two new talents are joining HPC-Ontario.
Tennessee commit Regan Rathwell and USC commit Ashley McMillan will join veterans Penny Oleksiak (most decorated Olympian in Canadian history), Kylie Masse (Silver in the 100m and 200m Backstroke at Tokyo), and Summer McIntosh (youngest swimmer on the Canadian Olympic team).
Rathwell is a Canadian Junior Champion in the 100m and 200m Back, and will benefit from training alongside silver-medalist Masse. Rathwell is only .72 from her FINA World Championships “A” cut in the 200m Back.
McMillan is also a Canadian Junior Champion as well as a World Juniors Finalist (coming in 8th in the 200 IM in 2019).
Following the pandemic year, McMillan is excited to get back to racing. “I am especially looking forward to all of the racing opportunities HPC-Ontario has set up for us this year,” said McMillan. Two major upcoming competitions include the FINA World Championships and the Commonwealth Games.
McMillan currently has the FINA “B” cuts in the IM events, but is less than a second away from her “A” cut in the 200 IM. Training with the top swimmers in Canada may be what she needs to drop the last few tenths required.
Rathwell and McMillan will train alongside the veterans under head coach Ben Titley and associate head coach Ryan Mallette. McMillan describes the training as being on a “whole new level” and that the talent at the Centre is “inspiring”.
Regan Rathwell Top Times:
- 100m Back – 1:01.16 (FINA World Championship “B” Cut)
- 200m Back – 2:11.72 (FINA World Championship “B” Cut)
Ashley McMillan Top Times:
- 200m IM – 2:13.81 (FINA World Championship “B” Cut)
- 400m IM – 4:49.63 (FINA World Championship “B” Cut)
New to HPC-Ontario:
- Regan Rathwell (from GO Kingfish)
- Ashley McMillan (from Penticton Kisu Swim Club)
Returning to HPC-Ontario:
- Penny Oleksiak
- Kylie Masse
- Sydney Pickrem
- Kayla Sanchez
- Finlay Knox
- Josh Liendo
- Yuri Kisil
- Summer McIntosh
- Elan Daley
HPC-Vancouver will be coached by Brad Dingey, who has been the head coach at HPC-Vancouver since August 2020.
Returning to HPC-Vancouver:
- Emma O’Croinin
- Danielle Hanus
- Hau-Li Fan (Open Water)
- Raben Dommann
- Markus Thormeyer (two-time Olympian)
