Pool performers
Archibald, Bond, Mingo to compete this summer in Winnipeg
Members of the Truro Centurions swim team will wear N.S. colours at the Canada Summer Games.
“I’m super proud … To have three of them make it is phenomenal.”
Centurions coach Holly Wright
The Truro Centurions will be well represented in the pool at the Canada Games this summer.
Three members of the local swim team – Katie Archibald, Madison Bond and Benjamin Mingo – will compete at the national competition, which takes place July 28 to Aug. 13 in Winnipeg.
“I’m super proud,” Centurions coach Holly Wright said of the athletes. “To have three of them make it is phenomenal.”
The swimmers were identified early in the swim season as potential Canada Games athletes. They made the team by achieving success during various meets throughout the season.
“It’s a really big deal for me because it’s a far away meet and there’s going to be a lot of people I haven’t competed against before,” said Archibald, 15, a Grade 9 student at Bible Hill Junior High School.
Archibald, from Valley, is a backstroke sprinter. She was a late addition to the Nova Scotia team, and is very deserving of her spot, said Wright.
“She pushed herself,” she said. “I kept calling her the lion all year because she was very quiet and kind just did her own thing in the beginning of the year, and I told her, ‘bring out that lion,’ and she just got more aggressive with swimming and she just really put all of her work into the pool and made sure she was focused in the races and did all the right things.”
Bond, a 12-year-old from Truro, has been on a tear this season, and has turned in multiple first-place finishes at events throughout the Maritimes.
The Grade 7 student at Ecole acadienne is also a backstroke sprint specialist, and looks forward to competing on the big stage.
“I’m very excited because I never thought I could be this good,” she said with a wide smile.
Wright said Bond is a natural swimmer who is dedicated to improving each time she’s in the water.
“She’s motivated every day she’s here,” she said. “She works hard, and she is a leader in the
pool for being as young as she is. And she loves the competition, as well and she feeds off of it. She wants to be on that top spot so she makes sure she puts in the work to get there.”
The Canada Games will be the second national event for Mingo, who competed at the Canadian age group championships last year in Calgary, where he raced to a fourth-place finish in the 100m backstroke.
“Ben’s awesome,” said Wright. “He puts it all into the pool. He works hard every day, he pays attention to his skill sets, he really wants to get to that big goal. He’s worked hard all year, he loves being competitive and he’ll really, really shine with this opportunity, I think.”
Mingo, a Grade 9 student at
Bible Hill Junior High School, is pumped for the opportunity to represent his club and his province.
“I feel pretty excited and it’s just kind of cool because it’s going to be on TV and my family’s going to be watching,” he said.
Mingo, 14, from Greenfield, has been swimming for eight years. He said his best friends are his teammates, and going to the pool for practice each day is a joy.
“It’s always fun to come to the pool after school and just have that,” he said.
As for goals at Games?
“Just to do the best that I can and see where it takes me,” he said. “I’m going to train as hard as I can and see how I do.” Canada