Victoria swimmer Jeremy Bagshaw will barely get time for a breather before it鈥檚 time to catch the next jet to another far-off locale.
Summer is the busiest time for Island internationals. Bagshaw will compete in the FINA world aquatics championships next week in Budapest and Tuesday he was named to the Canadian team for the 2017 World University Games from Aug. 19-30 in Taipei City, Taiwan.
鈥淚t鈥檚 a busy summer, but I鈥檓 as fit as I鈥檝e ever been,鈥� said Bagshaw.
鈥淚t鈥檚 a matter of trusting my training.鈥�
The full 276-athlete Canadian team for the World University Games was named Tuesday. The Island contingent is led by Bagshaw and UVic鈥檚 Eric Hedlin, who are also on the Canadian senior team at the FINA world championships, defending Games diving gold-medallist Celina Toth of Victoria Boardworks and Mount Douglas-grad Conor Morgan of Victoria, the fluid inside-outside UBC Thunderbirds threat and sa国际传媒 West men鈥檚 basketball MVP.
The University of Victoria Vikes will be well represented on the Canadian track and field team for the Games by running stars Cole Peterson (1,500 metres), Tyler Smith (800 metres) and Sarah MacPherson (1,500 metres).
Peterson looks to be on the rise and won the men鈥檚 1,500-metre bronze medal behind two Olympians recently at the Canadian track and field championships in Ottawa.
鈥淐ole showed he belongs at the top with the best in sa国际传媒. We鈥檙e looking forward to seeing what Cole can do with an international field this summer,鈥� said UVic Vikes assistant track coach, and two-time Olympian, Hilary Stellingwerf.
Joining the UVic trio on the Canadian track and field team for the Games will be Frances Kelsey graduate Agnes Esser of Mill Bay, the Canadian women鈥檚 discus champion now throwing for the University of Minnesota Golden Gophers of the Big Ten, and Tofino shot-putter Sullivan Parker of the Cal-Berkeley Bears of the Pac-12.
It will be a Bears reunion. Other Victoria athletes at the Games from Cal-Berkeley will be Bagshaw and Claremont-grad Sarah Darcel in swimming. Bagshaw is an NCAA Pac-12 medallist and recent graduate in biology, but still qualifies for the University Games. The podium at this point might be asking too much at the world championships in Budapest. The University Games provide a more realistic goal for the St. Michaels University School graduate.
鈥淚 want to be more aggressive and not hold back in my swimming,鈥� said Bagshaw, the Canadian 400-metre freestyle champion, but whose time just failed to qualify him for the 2016 Rio Olympics.
鈥淚t鈥檚 the first year of the quad to Tokyo [2020 Summer Olympics] and I want to get it going.鈥�
That鈥檚 what it鈥檚 all about, say organizers.
鈥淸The University Games] provides a natural high-performance international pathway, said U Sports chief sport officer Lisette Johnson-Stapley, in a statement.
鈥淎t the Rio 2016 Olympic Games, 56 former Universiade participants competed [for sa国际传媒], bringing home nine medals. One year later, we are looking forward to the next generation of Olympic stars making their mark in Taipei. The experience and memories they take away will be life-changing.鈥�
There are no shortage of Island athletes hoping Taipei does indeed alter the course of their international careers.
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