Canadian Swim Team for Delhi Commonwealth Games announced

"An exciting time for Canadian Swimming"

IRVINE, CA, Aug. 22 /CNW Telbec/ - Following a successful Pan Pacific Championships in Irvine California, Swimming Canada is pleased to announced the twenty seven strong swimmers nominated to represent Canada at the up coming Commonwealth Games in Delhi, India.

The Canadian squad was selected based on performances at the 2010 Pan Pacific Championships and the 2010 IPC World Para-Swimming Championships.

"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 Canadian Swimming as we head into the Commonwealth Games and the second half of the quadrennial."

The following swimmers have been nominated to Commonwealth Games Canada to represent Canada at the 2010 Commonwealth Games in Delhi, India.

The men's team will feature: (Name, Age, Residence, Hometown) Ryan COCHRANE, 20, Victoria, BC, Victoria, BC; Scott DICKENS, 25, Vancouver, BC, Burlington, On; Andrew FORD, 21, Guelph, ON, Guelph, ON; Charles FRANCIS, 21, Montreal, QC, Cowansville, QC; Brent HAYDEN, 26, Vancouver, BC, Mission, BC; Stefan HIRNIAK, 25, Victoria, BC, New Brunswick, NJ; Richard HORTNESS, 25, London, ON, Medicine Hat, Alta.; Benoit HUOT, 26, Longueuil, QC, Montreal, QC; Brian JOHNS, 27, Vancouver, BC, Richmond, BC; Tobias ORIWOL, 25, Toronto, ON, Pointe-Claire, QC; Sean PENHALE, 22, Victoria, BC, Red Deer, AB; Blake WORSLEY, 22, Victoria, BC, Denver, COL.

The women's will comprise of: (Name, Age, Residence, Hometown) Genevieve CANTIN, 19, Quebec, QC, Saguenay, QC; MacKenzie DOWNING, 23, Victoria, BC, Whitehorse, YK; Barbara JARDIN, 19, Montreal, QC, Montreal, QC; Alexa KOMARNYCKY, 20, Victoria, BC, Etobicoke, ON; Audrey LACROIX, 25, Montreal, QC, Pont-Rouge, QC; Lauren LAVIGNA, 21, Vancouver, BC, Burnaby, BC; Martha MCCABE, 20, Vancouver, BC, Toronto, ON; Erica MORNINGSTAR, 21, Calgary, AB, Calgary, AB; Annamay PIERSE, 26, Vancouver, BC, Edmonton, AB; Victoria POON, 25, Lasalle, QC, Hong Kong, China; Katarina ROXON (S9), 17, Cornerbrook, NF, Stephenville, NF; Sinead RUSSELL, 16, Oakville, ON, Burlington, ON; Genevieve SAUMUR, 22, Montreal, QC, Montreal, QC; Katerine SAVARD, 16, Pont-Rouge, Qc, Pont-Rouge, QC; Julia WILKINSON, 23, Victoria, BC, Stratford, ON.

Randy Bennett of Victoria will lead the team as head coach, assisted by Tom Johnson (Vancouver), Joszef Nagy (Vancouver), Benoit Lebrun (Montreal), Jan Bidrman (Calgary), Marc-Andre Pelletier (Cap Rouge St-Augustin Quebec), Nicholas Perron (Quebec), and Pierre Lamy (Montreal).

"We are very happy to welcome the twenty-seven swimmers to the Canadian Commonwealth Games team, said Canada's Chef de Mission Martha Deacon, "With the overall great performances that we saw at the Pan Pacific Championships and IPC Worlds, we are quite excited to see them repeat that success in Delhi."

For World Record holder Annamay Pierse of Edmonton, the Commonwealth Games are an important step towards her preparation towards London. "It's another great opportunity to race against some of the best in the World," said Pierse. "On top of that, I've always wanted to go to India, so I'm really excited to represent Canada at the Games."

Typically, the month of October marks the beginning of the season for elite swimmers. But for former World Champion Brent Hayden of Mission, BC, "it's not the fastest swimmer in the world that will win the race, it's the best one who will adapt on that day and get his hand on the wall first." Hayden ended the 2009-10 season with the second fastest time in the World in the men's 100 meter freestyle.

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

Pool competition starts on October 4th.

About Swimming Canada

Swimming Canada serves as the national governing body of competitive swimming. Swimming Canada's vision of Swimming to Win; Winning for Life! reflects the lifelong attributes of the sport. The federation comprises 75,000 members and 400 swim clubs across the country. Canadians are global leaders in high performance swimming and development for both able-bodied swimmers and swimmers with a disability. Swimming is recognized as one of the most celebrated and successful Canadian summer Olympic sports.

About Commonwealth Games Canada

Commonwealth Games Canada (CGC) is the international franchise holder for the Commonwealth Games and Commonwealth movement in Canada, and an active, contributing member of the Canadian sport community. The mission of Commonwealth Games Canada is to strengthen sport within Canada and throughout the Commonwealth, by participating in the Commonwealth Games and by using sport as a development tool.

For further information: Martin Richard, Director of Communications, Swimming Canada, Cell: 613.725.4339, Email: [email protected], Cell (while in Delhi): 78 3850 3724; Derek Johnston, Commonwealth Games Canada Communications, Phone: [phone], Email: [email protected]