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•Th e IFP• H alton H ills, Thursday, January 30, 2014 23 AZ & DZ Licenses, Insurance Accredited Courses 1-800-753-2284 • www.otta.ca Air Brake Courses Ontario Truck Training Academy offers a Ministry-Approved Air Brake Endorsement Course. OSHAWA LOCATION: 199Wentworth St. East Saturday Feb. 1st & Sunday Feb. 2nd BRAMPTON LOCATION: 76 Sun Pac Blvd. Saturday Feb. 22nd & Sunday Feb. 23rd Watching Curling during the Sochi Olympics?Watching Curling during the Sochi Olympics? Experience the Real Thing with Acton Curling Club's Learn to Curl Program Experience the Real Thing with Acton Curling Club's Learn to Curl ProgramSt arts Febru ary 9 th! ★ 7 week program lead by Level 2 Instructor ★ Sundays 2:00 - 4:00 pm; February 9 - April 6 ★ On-ice practice and off-ice discussions ★ Learn the game, rock delivery, sweeping techniques, etiquette & game strategy ★ Costs only $125 (including HST) ★ Space is limited so register early! Visit www.actoncurlingclub.com for details Acton Curling Club 242 Churchill Rd N • Acton • 519-853-0110 For more information, email: registration@actoncurlingclub.com SPORTS "Quote/unquote" 'I've trained at U of T the last couple of years and it's an environment I'm comfortable with.'-- Swimmer Kyle Haas... see below Youth and adult members of Georgetown Aikido participated in the club's new Dojo grand opening and open house this weekend, performing demonstrations for visitors to the 29 Armstrong Rd. facility. Pictured above, the San an Dori Jyu Waza is demonstrated, in which three attackers (black belt Austin Gareau with sword, brown belt Alex Clarke with tanto/knife and brown belt Matthieu Verdon) take on one defender (Sensei Mike Klusoczky, far left). Aikido is a non-competitive martial art and a form of self-defense. For more info, visit the website www.georgetownaikido.com or call 905-873-3080. Photo by Jon Borgstrom Aikido club opens its doors Having just written the last exam to complete his studies at Georgetown District High School this past week, swimmer Kyle Haas wasn't exactly exuberant about his new freedom on Twitter. "Done high school woo," was the ex- tent of his celebratory tweet. Haas will still have to get up at 4:30 a.m. six days a week and drive back and forth to swim practice with the Oakville Aquatics Club or McMaster University, usually followed by an- other two-hour late afternoon ses- sion. The 18-year-old backstroke spe- cialist has also applied for jobs to keep him busy until late August, when he'll start up fi nancial economics courses at the University of Toronto and swim for the defending national team champion Var- sity Blues. As the fastest Canadian in his high school class for the 50- and 100-metre backstroke events, Haas was asked if he had any interest in attending a U.S. school on a scholarship. "Not really," said Haas, who will receive a partial scholarship at U of T and train daily with more federally carded and world-ranked athletes than anywhere else in the country. "I've trained at U of T the last couple of years with some of the coaches there and it's an environment I'm comfort- able with. I also swam with a bunch of guys from there who are at the nation- al level, it's close to home and I didn't really want to go anywhere else." Haas began swimming competi- tively with the Halton Hills Blue Fins at age 12 and moved on to the Oakville Aquatic Club this past September in order to train under coach Sean Baker. His current short-course personal bests of 25.04 seconds in the 50m back and 54.10 in the 100m back would rank Haas in the top eight at last year's Canadian university championships. At U of T, Haas will be under the tutelage of legendary Blues' head coach Byron MacDonald and the National Swim Centre's Ben Titley, who oversaw the as- cension of world-record-holding backstroker Liam Tancock of England. "Obviously we are excited to attract a top athlete like Kyle to the University of To- ronto," said MacDonald, who has provided analysis for Ca- nadian broadcast networks for the swim events at the Sum- mer Olympics. "He has natural speed and will make an immediate impact on our team as we continue to be in the hunt for the national team title." The next big meet for Haas will like- ly be at the Canadian Swimming Trials in Victoria, B.C. April 2-4. He said he's keen on getting his times lower and rankings up as the season progresses. "My fi rst goal is to place in the A fi - nal at the trials," added Haas, who in the back of his mind is thinking about the 2016 Summer Olympics in Brazil. "That's what everybody trains for, the Olympics, right?" By EAMONN MAHER Staff Writer Haas commits to U of T Backstroke ace set to make splash with Varsity Blues and forth to swim practice with the Oakville Aquatics Club or McMaster University, usually followed by an- other two-hour late afternoon ses- The 18-year-old backstroke spe- cialist has also applied for jobs At U of T, Haas will be under the tutelage of legendary Blues' head coach Byron MacDonald and the National Swim Centre's Ben Titley, who oversaw the as- cension of world-record-holding backstroker Liam Tancock of England. to attract a top athlete like Kyle to the University of To- ronto," said MacDonald, who has provided analysis for Ca- nadian broadcast networks for the swim events at the Sum- KYLE HAAS