The Vortex, June 2025: Canada Names 26 Next-Wavers For World Junior Championships
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Following the Bell Canadian Swimming Trials, Swimming Canada has selected its National Development Team. The federation named a team of 26 swimmers (11 males, 15 females) born between 2007 and 2011 will represent Canada at the World Aquatics Junior Swimming Championships Aug. 19–24 in Otopeni, Romania. From Swimming Canada:
“I’m very pleased with the level of performance we saw from our junior swimmers last week in Victoria,” said National Development Coach Ken McKinnon.
Selection standards were based on the fastest 16th-place preliminary times for the past three world junior championships, and the Trials saw a total of 61 swims achieving these standards.
Among the 12 returning athletes from last summer’s Junior Pan Pacific Championships are Ella Cosgrove, Madison Kryger, and Oliver Dawson, who have also been named to Canada’s senior national team for the 2025 World Aquatics Championships in Singapore. McKinnon said:
“These two achievements show both depth and excellence at the world junior level. I would like to recognize the great work accomplished by our Canadian coaches in achieving this level of performance. The future is bright.”
High Performance Centre – Ontario Assistant Coach Rob Novak will serve as the team’s head coach. Novak also guided the 2023 Junior Pan Pacs team to Canada’s best-ever medal performance at that event. Six other coaches from British Columbia, Alberta, and Ontario round out the staff.
The team has eight weeks to prepare before heading to the Otopeni Aquatics Complex near the Romanian capital of Bucharest. The venue will host more than 600 swimmers from approximately 100 countries. McKinnon said:
“I’m looking forward to watching our best juniors race against the world this summer in the first international junior meet of the Los Angeles 2028 Olympic quadrennial.”
| WOMEN – FEMMES | CLUB | CLUB | PERSONAL COACH | ENTRAINEUR |
| Molly Barber | Swim Ottawa | Rick Burton |
| Maya Bezanson | Toronto Swim Club | Bill O’Toole |
| Kamila Blanchard | Pointe-Claire Swim Club | Brad Dingey |
| Maxine Clark | U of Calgary SC | Carl Simonson |
| Ella Cosgrove | Rick Laing | |
| Ranumi Eashwarage | U of Calgary SC | Carl Simonson |
| Julia Ebli | Toronto Swim Club | Bill O’Toole |
| Matea Gigovic | Killarney Swim Club | Mike Meldrum |
| Madyson Hartway | Chris Webb/Brent Arckey | |
| Madison Kryger | HPC-O/Brock Niagara Aq | Rob Novak |
| Abigail McLeod | Winskill Dolphins | Judy Baker |
| Sienna Rodgers | U of Calgary SC | Carl Simonson |
| Shima Taghavi | HYACK Swim Club | Andrew Lennstrom |
| Leah Tigert | Toronto Swim Club | Bill O’Toole |
| Clare Watson | Abi Liu | |
| MEN | HOMMES | CLUB | CLUB | PERSONAL COACH | ENTRAINEUR |
| Francis Brennan | HPC-Ontario | Rob Novak |
| Benjamin Cescon | CREST Swimming | Fred Arzaga |
| Noah Chang | Rocket Swim Club | Ivan Vorona |
| Oliver Dawson | Grand Prairie Piranhas | Alex Dawson |
| Parker Deshayes | Cascade Swim Club | Dave Johnson |
| Owen Ekk | John Ambor-Maul | |
| Simon Fonseca | CAMO | Claude St-Jean |
| Jaques Harrison | CREST Swimming | Fred Arzaga |
| Laon Kim | U of Calgary SC | Carl Simonson |
| Aiden Kirk | Kelowna Aquajets | Marc Tremblay |
| Anton Semenyuk | Natation Gatineau | Liam Desjarlais |
| TEAM STAFF – PERSONNEL | ||
| TEAM LEADER – CHEF D’ÉQUIPE | Ken McKinnon | |
| TEAM MANAGER – GÉRANT D’ÉQUIPE | Erin Alizadeh | |
| TEAM MANAGER – GÉRANT D’ÉQUIPE | Colleen Marchese | |
| HEAD COACH – ENTRAINEUR-CHEF | Rob Novak | |
| COACH – ENTRAINEUR | Fred Arzaga | |
| COACH – ENTRAINEUR | Judy Baker | |
| COACH – ENTRAINEUR | Alex Dawson | |
| COACH – ENTRAINEUR | Dave Johnson | |
| COACH – ENTRAINEUR | Bill O’Toole | |
| COACH – ENTRAINEUR | Carl Simonson | |
| TEAM DOCTOR – MÉDECIN DE L’ÉQUIPE | Rich Trenholm | |
| MASSAGE THERAPIST – MASSOTHÉRAPEUTE | Brian Beckwith | |
| MASSAGE THERAPIST – MASSOTHÉRAPEUTE | Jeanette Dobmeier | |
| RACE ANALYSIS – ANALYSE DE COURSE | Meena Sharif |
Also In The June Vortex
- Maxime Grousset 21.68 Grabs Gold By 0.01 As Nikita Baez Booms 100 Places Up French All-Time Performances Rankings
- Aussie A Squad Off For Some California Dreaming At August Pro Swim
- Yohann Ndoye-Brouard Overhauls Antoine Herlem & Merwen Tomac In Last-Lap Sprint For 1:56 French 200 Back Crown
- Emma Carasco & Laura Cabanes Off To World Titles After Brush With Mireia Belmonte, 34, in 200IM As Trials End
- Maxime Grousset Grabs Worlds Ticket With 22.70 French 'Fly Mark
- When Speedy Meant Inside The Cut By 0.02sec For Arbidel González
- Carmen Weiler & Estella Tonrath Lead Charge On Spanish Backstroke Standards
- Daily heats action at U.S. Championships
All Finals coverage from U.S. Championships, Canadian Trials and Australian Trials, in our News section:
Craig Lord
Craig Lord
The Vortex in Full:
