Dalhousie's Sharpe among eight Olympians named to Canadian swim roster

(OTTAWA, Ont.) - Canadian Interuniversity Sport, in conjunction with Swimming Canada, announced Thursday the 38 student-athletes who will represent Canada in swimming at the 2013 Summer Universiade in Kazan, Russia (July 6-17).

Summer Universiade website: http://kazan2013.ru/en
Team Canada website: http://english.cis-sic.ca/universiade/summer/2013

Highlighting the red and white roster are no less than eight members of the 2012 Canadian Olympic team, including Stephanie Horner of Beaconsfield, Que., Savannah King of Vernon, B.C., Brittany MacLean of Etobicoke, Ont., Katerine Savard of Cap-Rouge, Que., Tera Van Beilen of Oakville, Ont., Tommy Gossland of Nanaimo, B.C., Alec Page of Cortes Island, B.C., and David Sharpe of Halifax.

MacLean, a University of Georgia student, reached the 400-metre freestyle final in London, finishing in seventh place.

Horner, who stars at the University of Victoria, and King, the reigning two-time CIS female swimmer of the year from UBC, also wore the Maple Leaf at the 2008 Olympics in Beijing.

Van Beilen, also of UBC, and Sharpe, who swims for Dalhousie, are among 14 returning athletes who competed at the last Summer Universiade in Shenzhen, China, in 2011. Six of them - including Sharpe - will make their third straight FISU Games appearance, a streak that started in 2009 in Belgrade, Serbia.

No sport has brought more Universiade glory to Canada over the years. Since the inaugural biennial competition was held in 1959, Canadian swimmers have won 98 medals, 21 of them gold - both record tallies for the country.

Canada returned from Shenzhen with three podium finishes, all of them silver medals, including Van Beilen in the 50 and 100 breaststroke events, as well as Hilary Caldwell, a former UVic standout from White Rock, B.C., in the 200 backstroke.

"We have a really strong team, with 14 members of the FISU contingent going on to the FINA world championships in Barcelona immediately afterwards. There's a mix of experience and first-time senior team members on the team and we're looking forward to representing Canada," said John Atkinson, high performance director for Swimming Canada. "The event has grown over the years and is now an exceptionally high standard event. It's certainly played its part in the development of many Olympians. It is a great opportunity for these swimmers to experience a world-class competition in a multi-sport village environment, which will set them up well for the quad as we move towards the 2016 Olympics in Rio."

The Canadian squad heading to Kazan is comprised of 19 women and 19 men, including 30 student-athletes from CIS universities, five from NCAA schools and three from the Quebec Cegep system.

The University of Toronto Varsity Blues lead the way with six selections. UBC, UVic and Calgary follow with five representatives apiece.

The Universiade swimming competition runs from July 10-17. The FINA world championships in Barcelona follow from July 28 to August 4.

NOTES: Kelly Aspinall of Nanoose Bay, B.C., wrapped up his exceptional university career at UBC this season with CIS male-swimmer-of-the-year honours... Gossland, his former teammate at UBC, had claimed the award in 2011-12... Canada had its best Universiade performance in swimming at the 1993 games in Buffalo, USA, where the team captured 15 medals, six of them gold... The Canucks' second best tallies came in Sheffield, England, in 1991 and in Edmonton in 1983 as they claimed three victories and 14 medals on both occasions.

TEAM CANADA ROSTER

WOMEN

Name School Hometown Selected Events

Katie Caldwell, McGill White Rock, B.C. 200 IM
Geneviève Cantin, Laval Jonquière, Que. 200 Back
Lindsay Delmar, Calgary Calgary, Alta. 200 Free
Jade Dusablon, Ste-Foy (Cegep) Quebec City, Que. Open Water
Alisha Harricharan, Guelph Brampton, Ont. 100 Fly
Stephanie Horner, Victoria Beaconsfield, Que. 200 Fly
Savannah King, UBC Vernon, B.C. 400-800 Free
Caroline Lapierre-Lemire, UQTR Rouyn-Noranda, Que. 50-100 Free
Brittany MacLean, Georgia Etobicoke, Ont. 200-400 Free
Sandrine Mainville, Edouard-Montpetit (Cegep) Boucherville, Que. 50-100 Free
Heather Maitland, Toronto Toronto, Ont. 800 Free / Open Water
Ashley McGregor, Texas A&M Pointe-Claire, Que. 200 Breast
Marni Oldershaw, Michigan Oakville, Ont. 400 IM
Tianna Rissling, Calgary Redcliff, Alta. 100 Breast / 400 IM
Katerine Savard, Ste-Foy (Cegep) Cap-Rouge, Que. 100-200 Fly
Paige Schultz, Toronto Toronto, Ont. 200 IM
Brooklyn Snodgrass, Indiana Calgary, Alta. 100 Back
Gabrielle Soucisse, Montreal Montreal, Que. 100-200 Back
Tera Van Beilen, UBC Oakville, Ont. 100-200 Breast

Previous Universiade Experience
2011: Delmar, Mainville, Maitland, Schultz, Van Beilen
2009: Maitland

MEN

Coleman Allen, UBC Barrie, Ont. 200 Free / 100 Fly
Kelly Aspinall, UBC Nanoose Bay, B.C. 50 Free / 100 Back
Steven Bielby, McGill Pointe-Claire, Que. 200-400 IM
Jason Block, Calgary Calgary, Alta. 100-200 Breast
Will Brothers, Victoria Victoria, B.C. 1500 Free
Zack Chetrat, Toronto Oakville, Ont. 200 Fly
Xavier Desharnais, Montreal Sherbrooke, Que. Open Water
Frank Despond, Toronto Milgrove, Ont. 400 Free
Richard Funk, Michigan Edmonton, Alta. 100-200 Breast
Tommy Gossland, UBC Nanaimo, B.C. 100 Free
Eric Hedlin, Victoria Victoria, B.C. 400-1500 Free
Aimeson King, Victoria Toronto, Ont. Open Water
Edward Liu, Toronto Toronto, Ont. 100 Fly
Chris Manning, Toronto Brantford, Ont. 50 Free
Dominique Massie-Martel, Laval Ottawa, Ont. 100 Free
Alec Page, Victoria Cortes Island, B.C. 200 Free / 200-400 IM
David Sharpe, Dalhousie Halifax, N.S. 200 Fly
Gleb Suvorov, Calgary Toronto, Ont. 200 Back
Russell Wood, Calgary Calgary, Alta. 100-200 Back

Previous Universiade Experience:
2011: Bielby, Block, Chetrat, Desharnais, Funk, King, Massie-Martel, Sharpe
2009: Aspinall, Bielby, Chetrat, Desharnais, Sharpe

STAFF

Position Name Club/School Hometown

High Performance Director: John Atkinson National Team - Ottawa, Ont.
Team Leader: Lance Cansdale - Halifax, N.S.
Manager: Bette El-Hawary - Halifax, N.S.
Coach: Jan Bidrman National Swim Centre Calgary, Alta.
Coach: Ryan Mallette Victoria Academy Victoria, B.C.
Coach: Jozsef Nagy National Swim Centre Vancouver, B.C.
Coach: Marc-André Pelletier CSQ Quebec City, Que.
Coach: Steve Price UBC Vancouver, B.C.
Coach (open water): Mohamed Marouf CALAC Montreal, Que.
Massage Therapist: Brian Beckwith - Halifax, N.S.
Massage Therapist: Rick Pelletier - Calgary, Alta.
Biomechanist: Ryan Atkison - Toronto, Ont.
Biomechanist: Allan Wrigley - Victoria, B.C.
Video Analyst: Graham Olson - Vancouver, B.C.

CANADA'S SWIMMING GOLD MEDALS AT THE SUMMER UNIVERSIADE (21):

2009 (Belgrade, Serbia): Kevyn Peterson, women's 400m freestyle
2007 (Bangkok, Thailand): MacKenzie Downing, women's 100m butterfly
2007 (Bangkok, Thailand): Audrey Lacroix, women's 200m butterfly
2007 (Bangkok, Thailand): Darryl Rudolf, men's 100m butterfly
2007 (Bangkok, Thailand): Brian Johns, men's 200m individual medley
1993 (Buffalo, USA): Guylaine Cloutier, women's 100m breaststroke
1993 (Buffalo, USA): Marianne Limpert, women's 200m individual medley
1993 (Buffalo, USA): Nancy Sweetnam, women's 400m individual medley
1993 (Buffalo, USA): Women's 4x200m freestyle relay
1993 (Buffalo, USA): Turlough O'Hare, men's 400m freestyle
1993 (Buffalo, USA): Turlough O'Hare, men's 800m freestyle
1991 (Sheffield, Great Britain): Guylaine Cloutier, women's 100m breaststroke
1991 (Sheffield, Great Britain): Patricia Noall, women's 400m freestyle
1991 (Sheffield, Great Britain): Deke Botsford, men's 100m backstroke
1983 (Edmonton, Canada): Mike West, men's 100m backstroke
1983 (Edmonton, Canada): Alex Baumann, men's 200m individual medley
1983 (Edmonton, Canada): Alex Baumann, men's 400m individual medley
1977 (Sofia, Bulgaria): Marion Stuart, women's 100m breaststroke
1977 (Sofia, Bulgaria): Graham Smith, men's 100m breaststroke
1977 (Sofia, Bulgaria): Anne Gagnon, women's 200m breaststroke
1977 (Sofia, Bulgaria): Graham Smith, men's 200m breaststroke

Source: CIS Communications
Photo Courtesy of Nick Pearce