Calgary Swim Team Raises $44,000 in Support of Swim Program

The Calgary Herald

Swim Canada has pulled the plug on its national training center at the University of Calgary but don't expect a whole lot to change. While the center no longer will be the official training site for Canada's elite swimmers, plans to launch the Calgary Academy for Swimming Excellence are in place. "This isn't a bad news day but a good news day," said U of C swim coach Mike Blondal. "The day the center leaves is the day our new program starts. We've been waiting to hear from Swim Canada since the last Olympics to clear up this issue . . . quite frankly, we're quite happy to go this way."

Blondal also said national swim coach Jan Bidrman's services will hopefully be retained, although neither Bidrman nor Swim Alberta would confirm it. "We are working with our partners to ensure we provide a world class program in Alberta for athletes and coaches," said James Hood, executive director of Swim Alberta. "We're hoping it will provide a wider range of opportunities for athletes in Alberta and Canada who wish to come here. "We are currently in negotiations with Jan Bidrman. I can't say for certain he will be employed here, but it's certainly on the table and being worked on for him to have a position with Swim Alberta, based in Calgary."

The decision to turf the U of C site, the national training center since 1993, came down Monday when Swim Canada elected to establish centers in Montreal and a yet-to-be-named site in B.C. "We hoped to be in the running, tried to be in the running, but it was ultimately decided it'd go to B.C.," said David De Vlieger, chairman of the U of C National Swimming Center. "We don't know the precise reasons. We believed our results would have earned us the right to remain the centre, but Swim Canada obviously didn't base its decision on results."

Many accomplished swimmers have gone through the U of C training center, perhaps most notably triple Olympic bronze-medalist Curtis Myden -- two bronze in 1996, one in 2000. There's also been World and Commonwealth Games medalists Joanne Malar, Morgan Knabe and Chris Renaud, along with Commonwealth Games medalists Rick Say, Lauren Van Oosten and John Cleveland and world championship medalists Mike Brown and and Shamek Pietucha.

It's been known for some time Swim Canada was going to go to two centers, so the locals, along with Swim Alberta, were able to develop a contingency plan in the form of the mostly privately funded Calgary Foundation for Swimming Excellence, which is planning to launch the Calgary Academy for Swimming Excellence. "It's a made in Calgary response," said De Vlieger. "We still intend to run a very good, high-performance program in Calgary."

If Bidrman's services are secured, many of the athletes will stay. Bidrman, who took over from charter coach Deryk Snelling in 1996, hopes to be a part of it. Being based in Calgary wouldn't affect his national team duties. "I've been part of Calgary swimming for nine years and have had great success," said Bidrman, "and I really don't want to move. I've personally been a part of Canadian swimming and its success for a long time, so I presume Swim Canada would want to keep me. "Hopefully, an environment can be created here where the athletes can get all the services and coaches to help them perform. The coaching will be here whether I stay or not."

                   U of C wages recruiting battle

Deborah Tetley, Calgary Herald

Published: Wednesday, December 27, 2006

Mount Royal, as it transitions toward full-fledged university status and increases spaces, is also changing how it markets itself to prospective students, Gottheil said.

"We're trying to personalize it, get in their minds, speak their language. I don't want to characterize students as consumers, but they really are looking at a product and we really have to be the best product, just as they have to find the best fit for them."

The college currently only recruits face-to-face in B.C. and Saskatchewan. Within two years, national and international recruiting at high schools will spike.

Roughly 30 per cent of Mount Royal's new recruits are straight out of high school, a number that officials expect to increase as the college increases the number of degrees it offers.

Meanwhile, schools such as the University of British Columbia are stepping up their focus on Calgary students, particularly UBC's Okanagan campus.

In the past few months, UBC has dedicated more than six weeks of time to recruiting in Calgary, said Sherisse Sy, associate director, student recruitment and advising.

In addition to competitive entrance awards and scholarships, the university also offers $500 toward travel expenses to out-of-province students.

"Every university wants the top students attending their university," Sy said. "We've had a lot of luck in Calgary and Alberta."

To counter outside competition, U of C officials spend time reminding Calgary students of incentives such as the $13-million scholarship budget and the advantages of staying at home, where the economy is hot and the educational opportunities are similar, Massey said.

"With Queen's and Western and others in our backyard recruiting the same students who applied to us, we have to give our students an Alberta option," she said.

Those strategies appeared to have worked for Kristina Persaud, much to her parents' delight.

Father Balmeek and mother Latchme Persaud encouraged Kristina to stay in Calgary for her undergraduate degree at least, and live at home to cut down on costs.

The 17-year-old is leaning toward that idea.

dtetley@theherald.canwest.com

                                                        © The Calgary Herald 2006