Canadian Junior Championships in Calgary this week

SwimAlbertaNews, Swim Alberta News

CALGARY – The road to the Olympic Games, even the ones in the distant future such as Paris in 2024 or Los Angeles 2028, may start this week for competitors at the 2019 Canadian Junior Swimming Championships.

Calgary’s Repsol Sport Centre is set to host the highest national-level meet for swimmers aged 18 and under.

The meet is expected to attract close to 550 athletes from 150 clubs. The pool competition runs Thursday to Sunday at the Repsol Centre, with open water action Monday morning at Lake Chaparral.

‘’The Canadian Junior Swimming Championships are a chance for the next generation of swimming stars to shine,’’ said Swimming Canada Events Manager Amanda Zevnik. ‘’We are so happy to be back in Calgary this year. Repsol Sport Centre, Tourism Calgary and Cascade Swim Club have been amazing partners in helping put together this event and we are all looking forward to a successful championships.’’

In the pool, there are two age groups for men and women. For the men, it’s the 14-15 and 16 to 18 age groups  and for the women 13-14 and 15-17. There is one open event for the relays. Preliminaries are at 9 a.m. each day with finals at 5:30 p.m.

In the open water events, the distance for the younger age groups is 1.5 kilometres and for the older groups three kilometres. The races start at 8 a.m. on Monday.

Individual session tickets are $5, with a full meet pass available for $40.

There are many individual titles up for grabs but the grand prize is the club title. Last year Etobicoke Swimming took top spot in the team standings with Pointe-Claire Swim Club second and Calgary’s Cascade Club third.

Tourism Calgary Executive Director of Sport, Culture & Major Events Jeff Daniels says his city is extremely proud to host the event.

“This competition helps strengthen Calgary’s reputation as the ultimate host city and a leading destination for aquatics events in Canada,’’ he said. ‘’With over $3.4 million in projected economic impact, this event attracts visitors, grows the local economy, and reinforces the importance of premier event hosting infrastructure.”

Results and full meet information is available at: https://www.swimming.ca/en/events-results/events/2019-canadian-junior-championships/ Original article posted here.