World record holder Pierse to lead Canada’s swimming challenge

OTTAWA - Following a successful run at the Pan Pacific Championships in California, Swimming Canada announced a 27-member strong squad for the Oct 3-14 Commonwealth Games.

World record holder Annamay Pierse of Edmonton will spearhead the team and the Games are an important step towards her preparation for the London Olympics 2012.

“It’s another great opportunity to race against some of the best in the world. On top of that, I’ve always wanted to go to India, so I’m really excited to represent Canada at the Games,” said Pierse.

“Our swimmers have demonstrated great Canadian pride over the past weeks,” said CEO and national coach for Swimming Canada, Pierre Lafontaine.

“We have had strong medal performances at the Pan Pacs and the IPC Worlds, while also seeing many of our swimmers are knocking on doors, to make that extra step onto the podium.”

“It’s quite an exciting time for Swimming Canada as we head into the Commonwealth Games and the second half of the quadrennial.”

The Canadian swim team will head to Singapore for an 8-day staging camp, prior to arriving in Delhi Sep 30.

Pool competition starts Oct 4 at the Shyama Prasad Mukherjee Swimming Complex.

Team:

Men’s: Ryan Cochrane, Scott Dickens, Andrew Ford, Charles Francis, Brent Hayden, Stefan Hiriniak, Richard Hortness, Benoit Huot, Brian Johns, Tobias Oriwol, Sean Penhale and Blake Worsely.

Women’s: Genevieve Cantin, MacKenzie Downing, Barbara Jardin, Alexa Komarnycky, Audrey Lacroix, Lauren Lavigna, Martha Mccabe, Erica Morningstar, Annamay Pierse, Victoria Poon, Katarina Roxon, Sinead Russell, Genevieve Saumur, Katerine Savard and Julia Wilkinson.

–Indo–Asian News Service