20 Questions with Alexa Komarnycky

Photo credit: www.deannamccollum.com

Club: Island Swimming/Victoria Academy of Swimming
Coach: Randy Bennett
Age: 22
Height: 5'11
Best Event: 400 Individual Medley & 400 Freestyle

• 2008 Olympian
• finalist at 2010 Commonwealth Games
• finalist at 2010 Pac Pacific Championships
• She is a very talented volleyball player but decided on competitive swimming
• you can follow her on twitter @AlexaSwim5 or facebook Alexa Komarnycky

1) At what age did you start swimming?
I started with public swimming lessons at the Etobicoke Olympium at the age of 4, I joined Etobicoke’s introduction to competitive swimming in Sept of 1995.

2) What was your favorite stroke or event as a 12 & under swimmer?
200 backstroke

3) What is your very first memorable swimming moment?
Being to afraid to dive in for my race during a competition as an intro swimmer, and my grandfather coming on deck to give me a magic donut from Tim Horton’s. IT WORKED!

4) Who is the person you think helped you most along the way?
The best mom in the world!!!

5) Who is your favorite athlete?
Ryan Cochrane

6) What would you be doing if you weren’t a competitive swimmer?
A runway model - the clothes, the make-up, the jewelry , and think I would be good at showing it off!

7) What keeps you motivated day to train hard each day?
The pot of gold at the end of my rainbow.

8) How do you push yourself during a hard workout when you are tired or sore?
Just knowing my competition around the world is working just as hard as I am, makes me want to work even harder and tougher.

9) What is the secret to balancing school and training?
My Secret is swimming now, school later.

10) What is your favourite activity outside of sport?
I like to do outdoor activities. I like communing with nature. Watching sunsets with a latte, hiking with the dog.

11) What is your favourite post-workout snack?
I’m a Tim Horton’s girl; Toasted bagel with cream cheese and chocolate chip muffin. YUMMY.

12) Who is your favourite band/singer?
AVICII IS THE BEST DJ IN THE WORLD.
And Aqua (shh don’t tell anyone!)

13) What is your favourite TV show , movie or both?
TV - Desperate housewives, and really bad reality tv.
MOVIE - NIGHT AT THE ROXBURY

14) How do you prepare yourself mentally for a race?
I listen to my favourite song on repeat in the ready room.
In my head I replay the strategy that Randy and I have come up with for the race.

15) Do you have any pre-race rituals?
If I can, I’ll get a manicure before the meet, if not, I always travel with at least 10 colours with me so that I can paint my nails in bright colours, because if you know me, you know I love anything bright!

16) Do you have a favourite pre-meet meal?
I lose my appetite before a meet, so I just focus on making sure I get the right combination of proteins and carbs for my body type.

17) What do you feel is your Career highlight so far?
Swimming a 4:38 in the 400 IM, which is a best time at worlds this past summer, and just missing the top 8 finals by less then half a second.

18) What are your goals for the future in the sport of swimming?
Gold medal at the Olympics, is there any other goal?

19) What is something that most people wouldn’t know about you?
I really like cats and I can play Guitar Hero on "Expert".

20) What advice do you wish someone had given you as a young age group swimmer?
The opportunity to see the world and make friends because of swimming, more than makes up for what you think you may be missing outside of swimming or with non-swimming friends.

If you have any other questions for Alexa, please post them under comments and we will get her to answer them for you.

20 Questions with Keegan Zanatta

Photo credit: www.deannamccollum.com

Club: Island Swimming/National Green
Coach: Aaron Dahl
Age: 18
Height: 6'3
Best Event: 200, 400, 1500 freesytle

• Graduated from Claremont Secondary School
• Attending University of Victoria
• Speaks both English & Spanish
• Learned to swim in his grandparent’s pool
• His mother and his uncle are both former swimmers

1) At what age did you start swimming?
I first started swimming when I was 7 years old.

2) What was your favorite stroke or event as a 12 & under swimmer?
I’ve always been a big freestyle fan, mainly because I’m not good at much else.

3) What is your very first memorable swimming moment?
My first national team with all my new friends.

4) Who is the person you think helped you most along the way?
Definitely my parents, without them I wouldn’t be where I am today.

5) Who is your favorite athlete?
I don’t really have a favorite athlete.

6) What would you be doing if you weren’t a competitive swimmer?
I probably wouldn’t be doing anything if I wasn’t a swimmer, nothing else really interests me.

7) What keeps you motivated to train hard each day?
I can’t stand getting beaten in a race, so every time I do get beaten, I remember it and use that to motivate me to train harder.

8) How do you push yourself during a hard workout when you are tired or sore?
I usually just think about how much easier it will be for me to swim fast, the harder I work in practice.

9) What is the secret to balancing school and training?
Making sure you’re prepared for both, go to sleep at a good time and study hard when you have the chances too.

10) What is your favourite activity outside of sport?
Sleeping… without a doubt.

11) What is your favourite post-workout snack?
Chocolate Milk.

12) Who is your favourite band/singer?
My favorite artists are Avicii, Steve Aoki, and Nero.

13) What is your favourite TV show , movie or both?
My favorite movie is Se7en, favorite TV show is Modern Family.

14) How do you prepare yourself mentally for a race?
I usually just listen to music and try to visualize my race.

15) Do you have any pre-race rituals?
No, not really.

16) Do you have a favourite pre-meet meal?
I usually just have pasta before the meet for the carbohydrates.

17) What do you feel is your Career highlight so far?
Winning the 4x200 free relay at the Jr. World Championships in Lima, Peru.

18) What are your goals for the future in the sport of swimming?
I really want to make the Olympic team this year and the senior national teams afterwards.

19) What is something that most people wouldn’t know about you?
I really like cats.

20) What advice do you wish someone had given you as a young age group swimmer?
To enjoy every moment of what you’re doing, because you never know what’s going to happen when you’re older.

If you have any other questions for Keegan, please post them under comments and we will get him to answer them for you.

20 Questions with Will Brothers

Photo credit: www.deannamccollum.com

Club: Island Swimming/National Green Group
Coach: Aaron Dahl
Age: 17
Height: 6’0”
Best Event: 1500m Freestyle
Swimming Canada 2011 Male Youth Swimmer of the Year

1) At what age did you start swimming?
I had taken a few Red Cross swim lessons starting around age 5 but I joined a summer swim club when I was nine to become a stronger swimmer. I came home after the first week of practice and told my parents this was all I wanted to do. I then joined a winter year round club when I was 11.

2) What was your favorite stroke or event as a 12 & under swimmer?
My favorite stroke was the 200m Butterfly because it's one of those strokes where you need to have endurance and technique.

3) What is your very first memorable swimming moment?
Achieving my first age group national time at age 11 in the 200m Butterfly at the Alberta Provincial Championships.


4) Who is the person you think helped you most along the way?
Both my parents have equally helped me - from driving me to meets and practices, making all my meals and supporting my goals.

5) Who is your favorite athlete?
The Green Bay Packers Quarterback, Aaron Rogers. Green Bay Packers are my favorite team and as probably one of the best players in the league. He is very humble.

6) What would you be doing if you weren’t a competitive swimmer?
I live to compete so either a competitive mountain biker or skier. I grew up in Canmore Alberta and learned to love both these activities.

7) What keeps you motivated to train hard each day?
The rewards of swimming fast, whether it’s making a potential team or making a time standard.

8) How do you push yourself during a hard workout when you are tired or sore?
I know I’ll be a better swimmer for what I’m doing and that the harder the workout the faster I’ll swim at a big competition.

9) What is the secret to balancing school and training?
You have to make sacrifices to your social life to get to your full potential in swimming and school.

10) What is your favourite activity outside of sport?
Mountain biking or skiing

11) What is your favourite post-workout snack?
Chocolate milk and a bagel with cream cheese or an omelet.

12) Who is your favourite band/singer?
I’ll always be a big Red Hot Chili Peppers fan.

13) What is your favourite TV show , movie or both?
Dexter is the best show out there and as for a movie I’d have to say “The Dark Knight”

14) How do you prepare yourself mentally for a race?
I have to trust my own training and what I have done to prepare myself physically for the race.

15) Do you have any pre-race rituals?
Listen to music, jump up and down and 5 loud claps before I step on the block.

16) Do you have a favourite pre-meet meal?
Any sort of pasta is great.

17) What do you feel is your Career highlight so far?
Finishing 6th at the 3rd FINA World Junior Championships in the 1500m Freestyle.

18) What are your goals for the future in the sport of swimming?
To represent Canada at the Olympic Games and World Championships.

19) What is something that most people wouldn’t know about you?
I was born with a vascular birthmark in my cheek. I have had a total of 13 surgeries on my cheek to treat it.

20) What advice do you wish someone had given you as a young age group swimmer?
Don’t sweat the small stuff, you can’t swim your life time best all the time but if you train your best you’ll achieve your goals when it counts.

If you have any other questions for Will, please post them under comments and we will get him to answer them for you.

20 Questions with Aimeson King

Photo credit: www.deannamccollum.com

Club: Island Swimming/National Green
Coach: Aaron Dahl
Age: 20
Height: 6’5
Best Event: 10km Open Water

•Studies psychology at the University of Victoria
•Won three bronze medals at the 2009 Canada Games
•Ontario Provincial record holder in the 800m freestyle
•Father played pro basketball in Europe
•Won first National 10k title in 2010

1) At what age did you start swimming?
I started swimming competitively at age 12, starting introductory stuff only a few months prior to that.

2) What was your favourite stroke or event as a 12 & under swimmer?
I never really got the chance to swim too much 12 & under stuff but I was quite the butterfly fan ironically because I was awful.

3) What is your very first memorable swimming moment?
Definitely this regional meet we have in Toronto, it was probably the biggest event I had ever raced at the time, I was 13.

4) Who is the person you think helped you most along the way?
I would say just my family in general helped. It was hard for me coming from such a strong sports background to enter a sport so late and be forced to work really hard to catch up.

5) Who is your favourite athlete?
There are so many great athletes and so many over the years have changed as my favourite in my mind. I would say my current favourite is probably Roger Federer, just because he has always played tennis with a level of skill and respect that is unprecedented.

6) What would you be doing if you weren’t a competitive swimmer?
If I weren't a competitive swimmer I would probably be actively involved in another sport or just working through school.

7) What keeps you motivated to train hard each day?
I would say that big goals and big competition keeps me motivated to train every day. Especially with the work that goes into distance swimming, competition on an international stage really keeps me going in the tough times.

8) How do you push yourself during a hard workout when you are tired or sore?
Like I said before it’s definitely the goals I have that cause me to push myself. Swimming in my eyes is in the top percentile of difficulty in all of sport so it just comes with the territory that you have to really focus and push yourself.

9) What is the secret to balancing school and training?
I would say dedication is the key to both and also time management. If you are on top of it, the balance can come naturally.

10) What is your favourite activity outside of sport?
I would say that pretty much anything music related is of interest to me. I’m always scouring the internet and other resources for new stuff.

11) What is your favourite post-workout snack?
I only in the last few years started liking chocolate milk but now I would say that it is easily my favourite post workout recovery with some sort of bar. Chocolate chip cliff bars make a good companion.

12) Who is your favourite band/singer?
This is probably the hardest question anyone could ever ask me. My current favourite is definitely a DJ named Porter Robinson. But I would say that the musician that has always inspired me most is Kanye West.

13) What is your favourite TV show , movie or both?
Again a difficult question for me. Some of my favourite shows on TV are The Walking Dead and Parks and Recreation; I can always count on those each week.

14) How do you prepare yourself mentally for a race?
I would say relaxation is the key. Mentally being on top of such a long race is really taxing. So I think what I’ve learned most is that you really need to relax both before and during the race because there is plenty of strategy to control your outcome.

15) Do you have any pre-race rituals?
I like to really hydrate well going into a race. I usually have to travel all over the place to race Open Water and so I bring pre-race gels and bars with me that I know and trust will get me set up well.

16) Do you have a favourite pre-meet meal?
Pre Open Water is all about the carb loading. haha So usually any good amount of pasta combined with an absurd amount of water. It’s not my favourite but it definitely gets the job done.

17) What do you feel is your Career highlight so far?
I think the highlight of my career thus far was probably my experience at Canada Games in August of 2009. It really solidified all the hard work I had done to get to that point and I had some good results at that meet.

18) What are your goals for the future in the sport of swimming?
My goals for the future are similar to that of a lot of swimmers in that I would love the opportunity to represent Canada at the Olympic Games. Alternatively though, I have always been intrigued by the opportunity to compete at all 6 of the major competitions, so I am halfway to that goal.

19) What is something that most people wouldn’t know about you?
Something most people don’t know about me is that I lived in both England and Belgium for almost a year each when I was a kid.

20) What advice do you wish someone had given you as a young age group swimmer?
The advice that I wish someone I had given me at a younger age is the necessary emphasis on technique. Growing up a lot of coaches had a hard time integrating me into the groups because I had started so late so technique wasn’t as big of a necessity at the time. I really believe in the value of a nice stroke and I still am working on technique vigorously every day.

If you have any other questions for Aimeson, please post them under comments and we will get him to answer them for you.

20 Questions with Julia Wilkinson

Photo credit: www.deannamccollum.com

Club: Island Swimming/Victoria Academy of Swimming
Coach: Randy Bennett
Age: 24
Height: 5'11 (178 cm)
Best Event: 200 IM / 100 BK

• 2008 Olympian
• Shoulder injury after Beijing
• Graduated from Texas A&M
• Blogs on CBC.ca

1) At what age did you start swimming?
I started swimming lessons before I could walk, and joined my first competitive team at 8.

2) What was your favorite stroke or event as a 12 & under swimmer?
50 freestyle

3) What is your very first memorable swimming moment?
When I qualified for my first provincials just after my 11th birthday. It was in the 100 backstroke Long Course, and the qualifying time was 1:19.75. I went 1:19.74

4) Who is the person you think helped you most along the way?
My mom, hands down. She was the one who drove me to practice, made all my swim meet food, and most importantly, always supported and believed in me 100%.

5) Who is your favorite athlete?
Paula Findlay- Triathlon

6) What would you be doing if you weren’t a competitive swimmer?
Musical Theater

7) What keeps you motivated to train hard each day?
My goals…and fear of Randy.

8) How do you push yourself during a hard workout when you are tired or sore?
I imagine hearing the announcer say something like, "She is under Canadian record pace", or "Julia Wilkinson is about to win the gold for Canada!" and that gives me a surge of adrenaline.

9) What is the secret to balancing school and training?
Time management, and KNOWING that it can be done and you don't have to sacrifice one for the other.

10) What is your favourite activity outside of sport?
Writing

11) What is your favourite post-workout snack?
Plain yoghurt with harvest crunch granola and fresh berries

12) Who is your favourite band/singer?
Breaking Benjamin and Three Days Grace

13) What is your favourite TV show , movie or both?
TV Show: Criminal Minds or American Dad
Movie: Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom

14) How do you prepare yourself mentally for a race?
I rub my hands on the blocks. Sometimes, by the end of a long meet, my hands have cuts on them because I did it so many times.

15) Do you have any pre-race rituals?
I usually like to talk to people behind the blocks or in the ready room. Having fun and joking around makes me more relaxed and helps me swim faster.

16) Do you have a favourite pre-meet meal?
My mom's chicken parmesan.

17) What do you feel is your Career highlight so far?
Winning 3 medals at The Commonwealth Games.

18) What are your goals for the future in the sport of swimming?
To stand on the podium for Canada at the Olympic Games.

19) What is something that most people wouldn’t know about you?
I am allergic to chlorine!

20) What advice do you wish someone had given you as a young age group swimmer?
You know all those "things" you think you are missing out on? Like parties and dances? You aren't missing out on anything. You have bigger and better things ahead of you. And it'll all be worth it.

If you have any other questions for Julia, please post them under comments and we will get her to answer them for you.

Lima Update Day 4

Big day for Canada and a big day for Island on Day 4.

Canada took 4 medals tonight at the Jr. Worlds. The evening started with Chantal Van Landegham taking another medal in the 50 meter fly. In a close and exciting race she tied for the bronze. Next on the block for Canada was Brittany MacLean in the 400 free. She took the race out right from the start and held the lead the whole way, taking down both the Aussies and the Americans. That really got the Canadian Team and fans going.

The surprise of the night came from Erika Seltenreich-Hodgson in the women's 200 IM. She was a somewhat unexpected finalist from the prelims in the morning. She took to the race with nothing to lose and had the swim of her life to take 2 seconds off from the morning swim and a Bronze medal. She blocked the Americans from the podium in one of their signature events. Ok this had the team revved for the next event.

The Island Boys with Alec Page and Keegan Zanatta teamed up with Omar Arafa from Etobicoke and Chad Bobrosky from Cascade in the men's 4 X 200 relay. Alec led off with a flat start 1:51 and had Canada in the mix right away. Keegan came in and held the position edging past the Americans but behind Poland, China and Italy. Omar took off like a rocket and we crept up to 3rd for Chad, the 200 meter men's gold medalist. Chad quickly over took both China and Italy. By 150 meters he took the lead from Poland. Canada ended up with it's 4th medal of the night and second gold. The whole team and parents on the other side were going nuts.

Canada now has 9 medals (3 gold) and is second in the medal count to the USA. We have 2 days to go and we have already surpassed any Canadian team at a World Championships by 4 medals. Things are looking good for the future of Canadian Swimming.

Tomorrow will see Alec in the 400 IM. He is ranked 5th and just recently became the new Canadian record holder in the boys 15-17 400 IM.

Alex Brothers

Lima Update - Day 2 & 3

Alec Page at the blocks and ready to race.

Day 2 and 3 in Lima had more success for Canada. On Day 2, Chad came through with a gold in the 200 Free. The race was once again very close and it had the stands on their feet. The team was jacked after Chad's race. We advanced swimmers into a number of finals and had a few close podium calls.

Day 3 saw Island's Alec Page and Keegan Zanatta swim the 800 free. Alec took the race out hard and was in 1st for the first 200 meters. In the end he had a great race as the top 6 were very close with Alec ending up 6th. Keegan was a little off his time finishing 13th overall. Canada ended the night with Chantal Van Landeghem winning a well deserved silver medal medal in the 100 free.

It's winter in Lima so the weather is not great. Cool and overcast which is normal for August.

Alex Brothers

Update from Jr. World Championships

Aaron's team


Keegan getting ready for his 400 free final


Canada's 4 x 100 free relay at the blocks (Alec Page swimming second)

We arrived in Lima, Peru early Saturday morning (like 3 am). Lima is a very interesting city where the Spanish roots date back to the 1600 Conquistadors. It is very crowded with a population of 10,000,000 in the city. Most of the population is very poor and the swimmers are seeing what 3rd World country is like first hand.

The Island boys settled in with their training group, the three boys from London and Oakville Ontario are Mack, Braydon and Matt. Coach Aaron has been training this group from day 1 and they all fit in well together.

Yesterday was the much anticipated start of the meet and the Canadians started off with a roar!! Canada put 8 swimmers through to finals or semis and 2 relay teams to finals. In the evening, the first event saw Chad Bobrosky and Keegan in the 400 free final. The race was close from start to finish with Chad just getting out touched by a Japanese swimmer for the gold medal. The women's 4 X 200 free then stepped up to grab Canada another Silver Medal.

The most exciting race was the 4 X 100 Free for men, Canada qualified 1st in the morning, just ahead of USA. The team had Luke Peddie, Alec Page, Omar Arafa and Chad Bobrosky for the evening final. By the time the second swimmers hit the water it was a tight race and the stands were rocking. By the 3rd swimmers, it was obvious that this was going to be between Canada and USA. On the last leg of the race, USA took off slightly ahead of Canada. Chad had pulled Canada within a few hundredths of a second with 50 to go but just couldn't manage to make the small gain needed to overtake the USA team and it came down to settling for silver on the touch. With that silver we have out medalled the Canadian performances from the two previous World Jr. Championships combined.

Tonight Canada has 4 swimmers in finals so we will be looking for Gold and more podiums.

Alex Brothers

We just ended the Montreal training camp and are on our way to Lima, Peru today. The team has been training well and the Island boys look good. The coaches say this is the best group of Juniors they have ever taken to an International meet. The psych sheets are out and the Canadians have 2 swimmers in the top 2 heats in each event. This will be the first real International meet for many of these kids. There are 64 countries and over 600 swimmers entered with all the swimming powerhouses including, USA, Australia, and all the European countries. It's been a long 2 weeks since Nationals and Age Groups. The boys and Aaron have been in Montreal for a month getting ready. Today is a long travel day to Lima, over 12 hours and we arrive at 1 am. I will update everyone on our arrival.

Alex Brothers

Not your typical boy!!

Well, I thought I was finished but I just had to post this photo...Pinches was getting ready to go to the pool. He also left this morning to travel by himself to the Caribbean, I hope he survives the trip! He might even make some money with that lunch kit, if he opens it up and begs a bit.