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Yuri Kisil, Ingrid Wilm and Rebecca Smith make the most of their joint training in their hometown ahead of their trip to Paris
Published on Jul 22, 2024 • Last updated 2 minutes ago • 5 minutes reading
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Calgary’s Cascade Swim Club now has a new nickname.
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It underscores the wave of Olympic talent, such as Yuri Kisil, Rebecca Smith and Ingrid Wilm, that it is putting in the spotlight just ahead of the 2024 Olympic Games in Paris.
“In a fun, enthusiastic way, they call themselves the ‘Alberta High Performance Centre,’ because Ontario has one, British Columbia has one, Quebec has one,” said Cascade Swim Club head coach Dave Johnson, referring to Swimming Canada’s three intensive training bases in Toronto, Vancouver and Montreal.
“We don’t have one here in Alberta, but we have a club that is performing at the highest level compared to any other club in the country,” Johnson continued. “And I think that’s been recognized not only by our peers and other swimming programs, but by Swimming Canada, that we’ve done a pretty good job of getting these kids to the Olympics.”
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The trio from Calgary’s Cascade — a club highlight in Canada for these Games — are just days away from helping Canada to the podium in one of the most acclaimed Olympic sports.
Coach Johnson, former coach of Swimming Canada from 1988 to 2004, will also be there. He is competing in the Summer Olympics for the 10th time.
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“Someone asked me how many Olympic trials I’ve done, and it was about 15, and each one has its own special moments,” said Johnson, of Swimming Canada’s competition held earlier this year to determine the country’s Olympians. “But this one really struck a chord with me, just because I started at Cascade in 2005, built up the program, and was able to get some Olympic swimmers on the team this time around.
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“It felt very special.”
What would make this cycle even more special is if one of his Cascaders were to take the stage in Paris.
Smith, 24, is the first to start — at the opening of the Games at the Paris La Defense Arena in Nanterre, France — in the 100-meter butterfly on Saturday morning (3 a.m. MT).
“Coming into these Games and swimming in an individual event is pretty special,” said Smith, who was competing in her second Olympics. “I didn’t have that at the Tokyo Games. So I’m looking forward to it.”
But can she finish on the podium as well as she did in Japan, where Smith was part of the Canadian team that won silver in the 4x100m relay, along with Kayla Sanchez, Taylor Ruck and Penny Oleksiak?
“Honestly, it’s just living in the moment and just going out there and seeing what I can do,” said Smith, who has not yet decided whether she will be part of the same relay team in France. “I want to race as best as I can. And the experience of my first Olympics will help me in this one as well. But you know, every Games is different. I think this one will definitely be a lot more exciting, just not having a lot of restrictions because of COVID from Tokyo.”
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“I think it will be a new experience for me.”
These are Kisil’s third Olympic Games.
The Calgary native will compete later on day one in the 4x100m freestyle, joining Okotoks’ Finlay Knox and Toronto’s Josh Liendo and Javier Acevedo.
“I’m very excited, especially because the last Games were the COVID-like Games,” said Kisil, who is also signed up for the 100m freestyle individually on Tuesday, July 30, and then the 4x100m medley relay on Saturday, August 3. He could also swim in the mixed 4x100m medley relay on Friday, August 2.
“COVID restrictions kind of ruined the whole experience,” Kisil continued. “It was more like doing business. We arrived a few days before and left after we finished racing, and we couldn’t experience the city or celebrate with our fellow athletes.
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“I am very excited that things are getting back to normal and that it is becoming more of a celebration, with all the best athletes in the world celebrating our successes together.”
Kisil was just a hair’s breadth away from the podium in Tokyo. Together with Liendo, Ruslan Gaziev and the decorated Brent Hayden, he surprisingly finished fourth and set a Canadian record in the relay.
“That made us hungry to get on that podium,” said Kisil, 28, who returned to Cascade last summer from Ontario’s High Performance Centre. “A lot of people didn’t even expect us to make the finals there. We proved a lot of people wrong, which is great, and a lot of great things came out of it. But missing out on that medal in the last 10 meters of that race really hurt. So getting another chance and getting on that podium is definitely the goal.”
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And then there is Wilm, who will swim for the podium in the 100m backstroke early on Monday morning (3am) and may also be called up to participate in the medley and mixed relay.
But unlike her fellow Cascaders, this is her first Olympic experience, so the 26-year-old rookie will likely lean on her Calgary clubmates…
Kind of.
“I think the great thing about our center — well … I say ‘center’ jokingly — the great thing about our club team is that we can rely on each other,” said Wilm, who was born in England and spent her childhood in the Middle East before moving to Calgary when she was about 11. “No one person really takes on the burden of a leadership role like this. It’s very much that everyone has certain aspects that we’re good at in our little club.
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“Yuri makes it fun. And then Rebecca helps us push ourselves in training and make sure we do the best we can. She’s really good at motivating us, so I love her for that.”
“Yeah… I think we have a special group here,” agreed Smith, who was born and raised in Red Deer before moving to Calgary at age 16 to join Cascade and then to Toronto to train at the High Performance Centre.
“Training with Ingrid and Yuri is really special,” continued Smith, who chose to return to Cascade to resume training under Johnson after completing his nursing residency at the University of Calgary last December. “We have kind of a small, high-performance group. We push each other every day, and it’s really cool to see us all achieve our goals.”
Now it’s all about achieving their goals – and hopefully the podium – in Paris.
“I think they can all go through to the second swim, which is the top 16,” Johnson added. “And they should all be in the final somewhere. That’s what we’re hoping for.
“And then those medals are still difficult to predict.”
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