Parent’s dreams far from finished

FORT FRANCES—Alex Parent has overcome bigger obstacles in his life, so the fact he failed to qualify for Canada’s swim team for the 2008 Paralympics in Beijing later this year isn’t going to hold him under water for long.
The 19-year-old McMaster University student was first diagnosed with a rare form of cancer—osteogenic sarcoma—at the age of five. After a year of aggressive chemotherapy, doctors feared the disease was spreading and were forced to amputate his leg.
Today, Parent is one of Canada’s premier young SWADs (swimmers with a disability). He is back in Fort Frances for a few weeks before he returns to Hamilton in June to further his swim training with McMaster’s varsity team.
“I didn’t make the cut this year, but I’m quite confident that in four years I’ll be on the team for the London games,” Parent said.
“The adjustment to the university life and pool training was pretty big for me, so maybe having more time to adapt would’ve helped me get better results [in qualifying],” he noted.
“But I’m really looking forward to furthering my training.”
Parent just finished his first year of general science courses and was really happy with his development in the pool there, thanks in large part to the help of McMaster coaches Andrew Cole and Tim Sauve.
“Their training programs have definitely furthered my development, the amount of pool time we get is amazing,” Parent remarked. “It was a big jump with the amount of training I had here [in Fort Frances] to there, but it’s going to make me a better swimmer, definitely.”
Despite the fact he’s still a teenager, Parent is very goal-orientated and focused. He’s back in town for a short break, but he’s hardly using it as one.
Parent will be hitting the gym and training as often as he can to make the most of his short stay here before he heads back east to prepare for the Can-Am Summer Nationals on July 11-13 in Victoria, B.C.
Parent remains very much focused on going to London in 2012, but he understands the big picture and has goals outside of the pool, as well.
“My main goal is med school, that’s definitely the ideal situation, but if not, I might lean towards being a teacher,” he noted. “But I still have some time to figure those things out.”
(Fort Frances Times)