KOREA

Happy Throwback Thursday!! 😊

Now that I’ve written about Pan Ams and about my past World Championships, I think it is time to write about one of the best experiences I’ve had as a National Team athlete.

Korea itself was wonderful. For the first time at a FINA World Championships we were in a village, with all different athletes and sports, similar to what we would experience at the Games. 

Tech Team – Korea 2019

Our coaches were smart and had us training to compete, not just training to train – something that I hadn’t done in previous years. We knew that Lima would be our primary focus as it was to be our Qualifying Event for the Olympic Games and that is where we put our energy – saving our peek performances for the final swims on July 31st.

Jackie and I after Tech Duet

As athletes, we sometimes think that the more we do the better. That the extra hour or extra repetition will make us better…. But what I learned through my time in Korea – the days of constant competition – is that you’ve already put in the work! The training has been completed to prepare you physically for a competition of this size and magnitude. Now all you have to do is show up, warm up and then go out there and CONFIDENTLY show the world what you have done.

The best part of this whole process is that in the end, I too trusted that I had done the job to prepare myself – the countless hours of training, the thousands of repetitions and the years of experience… I’ve done it all, now I just need to remember (even when I feel stressed) to trust my coach, trust myself and calm my nerves because yes, I still get nervous even after all these years!

Free Duet – Korea 2019

We performed each day better than the day before and I left Korea feeling so proud of the team that arrived in Montreal just a few months earlier. Since January, we had so much to overcome and so much to learn in such a small amount of time. We went from 12 individuals of all different ages, to a team that shared a common experience. A team that was confident and prepared to perform on the world stage.

Free Team – Korea 2019

I will always remember watching them as they prepared in the last call room prior to the first team swim. We had just done our focus circle and after a pep talk, I looked in each of their eyes and I saw excitement. Not nerves, just excitement! They were ready – I knew it and they knew it.

Though I could share a hundred more things about the duet and the other team events, this moment was so important. They might not know it, but I do! It was the moment we became a trusting team and it was a moment that we blended together as one unit.

 

 

Thank you to my amazing teammates! We’ve been though one hell of a year and I can’t wait to share this next chapter with you – starting this week in Stoneham, QC!

TEAM CANADA 2019

EMILY ARMSTRONG

CATHERINE BARRETT

ANDREE-ANNE COTE

CAMILLE FIOLA-DION

REBECCA HARROWER

CLAUDIA HOLZNER

AUDREY JOLY

SION ORMOND

HALLE PRATT

KENZIE PRIDDELL

JACQUELINE SIMONEAU

CASSANDRA WINKELAAR