Olympic Swimmer Speaking in Chatham

Chatham- Two-time Canadian Olympian and former Canadian record holder, Julia Wilkinson will be in town speaking with some of Chatham’s hardest training young athletes.

In a rare local appearance, Ms. Wilkinson will be speaking with the senior team of the Chatham Y Pool Sharks about motivation and sports nutrition – topics essential to the success of a serious swimmer. Wilkinson will speak at the Chatham Children’s Treatment Centre Tuesday at 6pm. Ms. Wilkinson’s visit will especially be an inspiration to Chatham’s female swimmers, who need role models in sport like Ms. Wilkinson. To the swimmers she represents success, as an elite female swimmer who hails from a small Ontario city, just like the Chatham swimmers.

“It is amazing to have Julia Wilkinson in Chatham speaking to the swimmers,” said Chatham Y Pool Sharks head coach Kyle Pinsonnseault. “Our kids work so hard and can swim equally well as some of the bigger teams. Julia helps the kids see how hard work can pay off, even if you come from a small city like she did. If you practice and keep working towards your goals, your never know what will happen”.

Inspiration and interaction with an Olympian, like Ms. Wilkinson, not only builds team morale it also gives the young athletes motivation to keep swimming. Most of the Pool Shark’s senior swimmers start their day with a 5:15 AM practice, work on weight training after school, and spend weekends travelling all over Ontario to swim meets. Maintaining that level of commitment and physicality can be tough when you are as young as 10, or as a busy teenager. It’s also hard to find the right balance of eating healthy and consuming enough calories for such a demanding sport, in an age when many young women and men are overly concerned about their weight and what they eat.

Not all young athletes become Olympians, but the lessons learned through competing at a senior level, such as dedication, perseverance, winning and losing, stay with these young athletes for life.

The Chatham Y Pool Sharks have swimmers competing at the regional, provincial, and national levels and has a 40 + year history in Chatham as a not-for-profit swim club.