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City swimmer to represent Canada

Troy Shantz A Sarnia swimmer will represent Canada at the Junior Pan-Pacific Championships in Fiji this summer.
Swimmer (1)
Swimmer Maude Boily-Dufour, 17, is a student at Saint-François-Xavier. Troy Shantz

Troy Shantz

A Sarnia swimmer will represent Canada at the Junior Pan-Pacific Championships in Fiji this summer.

Maude Boily-Dufour, 17, earned the spot by finishing second in the 100-metre backstroke and third in the 200-metre backstroke at the National Championships in Montreal this month.

Sarnia Rapids swimmer, who begins a full-ride scholarship at San Diego State University this fall, said she surprised even herself in the 200M, with a time quick enough to meet the Canadian team standard.

“I blew my previous time out of the water,” said the student at Saint-François-Xavier.

She was also close to a personal best in the 100M with a time of 1:02:40.

Team selection is a combination of race results and times based on an international standard. You can do well in a race but if the time doesn’t meet the threshold you won’t be donning the red-and-white, Boily-Dufour explained.

“The times are super fast, and even in some events … no one made it,” she said. “They’re trying to bring the best to represent Canada.”

Only a month ago, the Nationals weren’t on Boily-Dufour’s radar. But after shaving a full second from her 200M time at provincials, she caught the attention of a Team Canada coach in attendance. He suggested she give it a shot.

In Canadian junior swimming, it’s usually athletes from bigger and better-funded clubs that draw attention at the national level, she said.

“Sarnia is so small, it’s hard to get noticed out there.”

The Junior Pan-Pacific games are scheduled for Aug. 23 to 26 in Suva, Fiji.

“I’ve been wanting to make a Canadian team and now I have,” she said.

“I don’t know how many people can say they were on a Canadian team.”


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