32 - The Oakville Beaver Weekend, Saturday December 6, 2003 Elite swimmers gunning for Olympic trials W ith next y e ar's A thens O lym pics less than a year away (Aug. 13-29). there's an added air o f excitem ent am ong the elite sw im m ers o f the Oakville Aquatic Club. Eight club sw im m ers have already qualified to com pete in the O lym pic Trials that will be held at the Etobicoke O lym pium next July. They are Julia Pomeroy, Laura Pomeroy, Don Sm ith, Jackie Chan, M arco M onaco. Kim mi Labbett, Niki Lakatos and Justina DiFazio. To sim ply com pete at this com petition is a very high achievem ent with sw im m ers having to meet national qualify ing standards. U nder the direction o f Oakville Aquatic C lub head coach Christy Fonseca the sw im m ers have reached such high standards by setting dem anding goals, com m itting to an intense training and racing schedule, and follow ing the val ues o f Olym pism . These include passion, posi tive attitude, dedication, persist ence. leadership, comm unity, personal excellence, and sports m anship. T he road to high perform ance is long with m any ups and dow ns and preparation for this quadrennial event began m any years ago. w hen these eight ath letes were ju st beginning to get their feel wet. so to speak, in training and com petition. Preparation has included intense training over holidays, training cam ps in Florida and M exico, and a com petition schedule o f racing across North A m erica and Europe, including last w eekend's key Canadian O pen w hich w as held in QuebecCity. Check a future issue for a com plete club recap o f this meet. C oach Fonseca said this meet w ould serve as an early indicator as to w here they stand in their individual events against the top perform ers in the coun try. as well as indicate what needs to be worked on in the next cycle o f training o ver the w inter season. She said she was expecting good perform ances in Quebec City "because these athletes have w orked hard in their preparation, and because o f that they are confident and ready to race." W hen the athletes are asked w hat qualities they feel are nec essary to train and com pete at these high perform ance levels they all respond with values reflecting the O lym pic ideal: "L eadership is essential," states veteran Julia Pomeroy who is 23 and has ju st finished a degree at SM U on the President's A cadem ic List. A fter the exciting experi ences o f Am erican college sw im m ing. Pom eroy is not quite ready to leave the pool. "I look to som e o f the best athletes in our sport and they are in their m id 20s. T hey are true role m odels for o ur young up and com ing sw im m ers, as well as inspiring for m e and give me confidence in my decision to continue sw im m ing." Sixteen-year-old Justina DiFazio says that persistence and dedication are essential. "C oach C hristy and my experiences in the Oakville Aquatic C lub have taught me that while I may not be the fastest o r strongest sw im m er all o f the tim e. I am alw ays encour aged to outperform myself. "A fifth place finish in a race can have just as m uch impact on the outcom e o f a m eet as a first place finish. A s a result, now I understand that although I may not alw ays be first or best, per sistence, hard w ork and dedica tion are never wasted." For M arco M onaco, the value o f m otivating team m ates has been a focus as he heads towards the O lym pic Trials. "T his sum m er I had the opportunity to com pete for Canada at the British Youth Nationals. 1 won num erous m edals and broke a British National meet record in the 200 breaststroke. There w as nothing m ore am azing than hearing all o f m y Canadian team m ates cheering m e on." Coach Fonseca also em pha sizes an aspect o f the O lym pics that is often overlooked. The word com petition is rooted in the Latin w ord 'com petere' w hich m eans -to seek together.' "T he O akville Aquatic C lub wants to m ake it clear that they value the support that this town gives." PETtR McOJSKER Oakville Beaver The Oakville Aquatic Club has eight swimmers already qualified for Canada's Olympic trials next year, including these five who were photographed at a recent practice. They are Justina DiFazio, Julia Pomeroy, Marco Monaco, Kimmi Labbett and Niki Lakatos. White Oaks Wildcats in action. The team: Alex Rozender, Amanda George, Amanda Pugliese, Amy Robinson, Chelsea Ito, Chelsea Mills-Alkema, Christine Olijynk, Coralie Salesse, Gillian Arfin, Jennifer Louth, Jessica Gall, Julie Macfarlane, Kassy Birtch, Katie Gunter, Kristy Easton, Laura MacNair, Laura Rowan, Mandy Ungar, Natasha Ivanchenk, Sarah Grigor, Shannon Murray, Stephanie Lee, Zuhra Abavi. The coaches: Natalie Vonlanthen, Alex Robinson, C J Pugh, Josh Lindberg, Nicole Myers. Parent advisor: Heather Ito. White Oaks shocks host London at meet W hite O aks cheerleaders couldn't have asked for a better start to the season, pulling o ff quite the coup at the traditional season o pening PC A (P o w er C h eerlead in g Athletics) H ead to H ead m eet in London last Sunday. T he m eet attracted som e o f the best var sity and club team s, including the host PCG Vipers, a pow erhouse that has never been beaten in C anadian cheerleading com peti tion. T hey w ere favoured going into the com petition but were topped by the W ildcats from Oakville. "W e brought a team that perform ed bet ter each tim e they went on the floor -- a team that de liv e re d ," said head coach Natalie Vonlanthen. "W e took dow n the big (See 'White Oaks' page 33) ^ DELSA G o lf 1029 S peers Rd. 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