Golden six-pack for Parent at nationals

The great ones make it look easy, but are never satisfied.
Fort Frances Aquanauts member Alex Parent took the junior national swimming championships in Regina last week by storm, tearing up the pool for six gold medals in the Swimmers With Athletic Disabilities (SWAD) division—and winning every event he competed in.
The performance of a lifetime, right?
“Well, I got a couple of best times, but I was hoping for more,” Parent said nonchalantly. “All in all, it was a pretty good performance.”
Sure—and Barry Bonds isn’t too bad of a home run hitter, either.
The accomplishment was even more remarkable in light of the fact Parent was competing in the boys’ open division, which meant his opposition included swimmers as much as three years older than him.
The 13-year-old Parent stroked his way to victories in the 50m freestyle (30.66), 100m freestyle (1:05.54), 400m freestyle (5:05.69), 100m backstroke (1:18.82), 100m butterfly (1:19.43), and 200m I.M. (2:52.12).
The humble champ cited a variety of reasons for his podium domination.
“All the training I’ve been going through has helped,” said Parent. “But I’ve also had a lot of good support from the town, such as the Kiwanis Club helping cover my expenses to get to the nationals.
“It was great to see my relatives from out in Regina come out. They really motivated me and cheered me on,” he added. “I’ve also had a lot of good coaching.”
And the source of that coaching sees only brighter days ahead for the swimming speedster.
“It was a really good performance, and now he has more excitement and confidence to work even harder,” said Aquanauts head coach Roman Ramirez, who was approached by a Canadian national swim team coach who shares his enthusiasm over Parent.
“Tom Haney [assistant coach with the national side] wants Alex to come to Edmonton in July for the SWAD Canadian Open,” said Ramirez.
It’s an enormous opportunity that awaits Parent if he makes another big splash out west—a possible berth on the national team.
“It was hard to imagine before the season that I would get this far,” said Parent. “But now it’s all coming together. I really hope a national berth is in the future for me.
“I’m confident eventually it will be.”
While Parent had qualified for this weekend’s junior provincials in Nepean (Ottawa) along with Aquanaut teammates Heather and Rachel Dutton, Nicole Lowey, and Boyd Badiuk, circumstances dictate it’s time for a break, according to his father, Gerry.
“I want Alex to maintain his grades, and he’s got lots of homework to catch up on,” he noted, with Alex nodding in reluctant agreement. “Plus it’s a bit of a financial strain on the family to send him to another championship far away.
But while his body will stay home in Fort Frances, Parent’s spirit will be with his teammates.
“I think what I’ve done is something my teammates can feed off of. At least, I hope so,” he said.