When Sophie English stepped onto the pool deck in Winnipeg earlier this year, she already knew exactly what she wanted to accomplish.
For months, the 15-year-old Kenora para swimmer had been training with one race in mind: the 800-metre freestyle.
By the end of the meet, she had become one of Canada’s youngest para swimming national record holders.
English recently broke the Canadian S6 para 800-metre freestyle short course record during a swim meet at Pan Am Pool in Winnipeg, finishing with a time of 15:28.66 and surpassing the previous mark of 16:37.
“I had my eye on the records and the provincial records and Canadian records for a long time,” English said. “I said to my coach probably two months before, ‘What if at this swim meet I try and break this record?’”
Her coach, Janet Hyslop, agreed and immediately shifted training toward the goal.
“All my training kind of went into that swim,” English said. “All my swimming and all my weightlifting went into that.”
She will admit she was nervous before the race began, but once she hit the water, everything clicked into place.
“I jumped in the water, and I swam it, and then I broke the record, and I was really happy,” she said.
The record marked a major milestone for the Kenora Swimming Sharks athlete, who began swimming competitively after encouragement from Hyslop, a longtime family friend.
Hyslop’s experience working with para athletes, including at the Paralympic level, helped guide English into competitive para swimming at a young age.
Since then, the sport has become a major part of her life.
“I just love being in the water, and I love the sport of swimming fully, and I want to keep going with it,” English said.
English’s success has not gone unnoticed by the national para swimming program either.
In March, she attended a Swim Canada development camp in Ottawa focused on preparing athletes for future Paralympic relay opportunities ahead of the 2032 Paralympic Games in Brisbane.
“The Paralympics have always been on my radar, and that’s the end goal,” she said.
English recently underwent reclassification within para swimming and now competes in the S5 category, which uses different qualifying standards and records based on athlete ability classifications. Her Canadian record remains in the S6 classification she competed in at the time of the race.
Her father, Chad English, said the classification system is designed to ensure fairness and equal competition among para athletes with similar physical abilities.
“That’s how they make sure that there’s equal opportunity and competition in the water,” he said.
For English, however, much of the satisfaction still comes from seeing the work pay off after months of preparation.
“My hard work definitely paid off,” she said. “I was really excited.”
Her teammates were equally invested in the moment.
During the race, one teammate sat poolside counting every lap to help her stay focused during the lengthy event.
“My entire team was very excited,” English continued.
Now, the young record holder is already targeting additional provincial and Canadian records in her new classification.
And while future Paralympic dreams remain part of the picture, she said her motivation still comes from a simple place:
“I just love being in the water.”
