Parent, Badiuk added to swim teams

It will be tea and crumpets for Alex Parent while Boyd Badiuk’s menu will be southern fried.
The two Aquanauts are heading off to some big-time events at two separate far-off destinations this summer after being chosen to a pair of swimming’s elite groups.
Parent is bound for Sheffield, England for that country’s junior championships June 2-9 after recently being selected to the Canadian national Swimmers With Athletic Disabilities (SWAD) team.
“I was pretty excited and pretty surprised when I found out,” said Parent, 13, whose amazing season has included winning six gold medals at the Canadian SWAD championships in Regina and setting a number of provincial SWAD records.
“I knew I was heading for a meet in Edmonton on July 21, but I didn’t expect to be attending anything before that,” he added.
This will be the farthest Parent has ever been away from home, although he’ll be comforted by the presence of not only his national teammates but also his mother, Liz.
“I’ve never been anywhere outside of Canada before,” he noted. “I’m honoured to be able to swim for my country. All the training I’ve done this year is really paying off.”
Aquanauts head coach Roman Ramirez said Parent, who will swim in seven different individual events and possibly some team relays over in England next month, is well-deserving of the accolade.
“He’s been doing all he can to reach the goals we put out there for him from the start of the year, and this is just a continuation of that,” said Ramirez.
Meanwhile, Badiuk, 14, was chosen to be one of the Northwestern Ontario reps on a provincial team that will attend a newly-created tri-country meet July 2 in San Antonio, Texas involving Ontario, Mexico, and the host state.
“Boyd has been performing very consistently all year, and for him to make a team like this is a great reward for all his efforts,” said Ramirez.
“He’s given his best in practice and at meets every time out, and his dedication to doing his best is what has pushed him to this level,” he added.
The criteria team members had to meet to qualify for this inaugural event was based on a points system centered around how close swimmers in participating regions came to the world record in each event they swam.
In Badiuk’s case, it was his supreme effort in the 50-m freestyle race at the Division II championships in Thunder Bay on April 25-27 that helped him make the grade in the boys’ 14-and-under category.
His time of 27.69 earned him 638 points—only six more than team alternate Jacob John from the Thunder Bay Thunderbolts.
“I thought [John] would have made it ahead of me,” said Badiuk, who’s not certain yet what events he’ll swim down south. “It feels good, and it’s certainly special to be able to go to an event that’s happening for the first time.
“I have to give lots of thanks to [Ramirez] because I wasn’t at this level of performance last year. I improved a lot when he came along,” Badiuk added.
(Fort Frances Times)