MONTANA CHAMPAGNE RIDING CONFIDENCE INTO CANADIAN LONG-COURSE SWIM TRIALS
Swimmer boosts his game by adding better nutrition, more sleep, focusing on the now
Montana Champagne has learned a lot in his first three years at the University of Ottawa, but it hasn’t all been through academic textbooks and lectures.
The human resource management student has strengthened his multiple swimming talents this season by adding better nutrition and more sleep as well as focusing on the now and not dwelling on the medals.
By becoming a more complete swimmer, Champagne, 20, has emerged a more accomplished athlete this season. And the best may be yet to come for Champagne, who also competes for the Greater Ottawa Kingfish Swim Club.
On the heels of winning eight medals at the OUA and USports short-course swimming championships, Champagne charges into this week’s Canadian longcourse trials for 2017 summer world championships and FISU Games with unprecedented confidence.
But this exercise, which comes a year after he made two A finals (including sixth in the 200-metre butterfly) at the Rio Olympic trials, is strictly about swimming against himself and seeing where that leaves him.
“I don’t have too many expectations,” Champagne said about the four-day trials, which are slated to start Thursday at the Saanich Commonwealth Place in Victoria. “I’m not focused on results. I want to go and swim the races the best I can. I have learned to swim my own race and not worry about the results.
“I’ve stopped worrying about results. When I focused too much on results (before this season), things would go worse. I go into races with a clear mind.”
While he’s not looking to the finish line before he leaves the starting blocks, Champagne knows the criteria he must achieve to make his first Canadian team for either the world championships in Budapest July 14-30 or the FISU world summer university games in Taipei, Taiwan, Aug. 20-27.
For worlds, he needs to place in the top two and meet certain time standards. For the world university games, he must be the top university athlete in the race and also meet a FISU time standard. He is considered one of the top five in Canada in his races.
Based on his personal-best, long-course times set in 2016, he’ll need to go about eight seconds faster in the 400-metre IM and trim five seconds in the 200-metre butterfly to meet the world championship time standards, and about five and four seconds respectively for the FISU Games.
During the USports national and OUA provincial university championships, Champagne competed in the 200- and 400-metre individual medleys and the 200-metre butterfly. But the Canadian trials presented him with a scheduling conflict. He had to chose racing the 200-metre butterfly over the 200 IM and added the 100-metre butterfly to go with his strongest race, the 400 IM.
Coming off a university season where he swam personal-best times at the OUA championships and again two weeks later at the USports championships under the short-course (25-metre pool) format, he’s not sure how that translates to times for the national trials long-course (50-metre pool) championships.
Champagne set personal-best, long-course times in 2016 for the 400 IM (four minutes, 25 seconds) and the 200-metre butterfly (2:02), but “I definitely think I’m faster having gone through all my preparation and improvements.”
Heavily recruited by University of Ottawa Gee-Gees head coach Dave Heinbuch in 2014, Champagne entered the downtown university much like many other freshmen.
“For my first year, I was more focused on the social aspect of university,” Champagne said. “I worried about what to do for the weekend, like any other first-year university student.”
But two years later, his fall and winter weekends focused on swimming rather than social.
By making a few key changes in his approach to swimming, Champagne won five medals at the 2017 OUA championships, which matched his output from his first two years, and captured three medals at the USports championships, including his first national title.
“I’ve had an amazing experience with the Gee-Gees. I’m having better results every year. I’m more mature in my training,” explained the team captain for the past two seasons.
He also has learned to improve elements in his life that also have made his swimming better.
“I’ve learned to stay on top of my marks and grades and that relieves a lot of stress,” said Champagne, who regularly receives A’s and B’s on his assignments.
“I also take care of my body by going to bed (at a good time) and eating properly. Before on campus, I looked for the fastest meal and it usually wasn’t the best option.”
Champagne also has learned to manage his time well to avoid any chance of pulling an allnighter to study for a coming exam.
At the OUA championships, Champagne won the men’s 200-metre butterfly (1:58.30) and the 200-metre IM (1:58.94), was second in the 400-metre IM (4:17.13) and the 400-metre medley relay (3:43.49) and third in the 200-metre medley relay (1:42.19). He also was awarded the Dr. Jeno Tihanyi Award for excellence in his two IM races.
Champagne won his first national university title in the 400-metre IM (4:10.15) and was silver medallist in the 200-metre butterfly (1:56.85) and the 200-metre IM (1:57.93). All of his times are Gee-Gees’ records and personal bests.
“Success comes because of his training,” Heinbuch said of Champagne. “I’m not saying he’s a late bloomer, but he’s still filling into form. He’s not even close to his potential.”
I’m not focused on results. I want to go and swim the races the best I can. I have learned to swim my own race and not worry about the results.