Ella Jansen
Ella, a grade 10 student at Notre Dame, was one of the youngest swimmers this past week at the Canadian Olympic Swimming Trials. Of the 6 events she swam, 4 were personal best times. She started the meet with an 11th place finish in the 100m butterfly. She then continued to finish 6th in the 400m free, 5th in the 800m free, 10th in 200m IM (only 20 minutes after her 800m race!). She ended the meet with a pair of impressive 4th place finishes in the 200m butterfly and 1500m freestyle. The 200m butterfly was a new Ontario Age-Group record, previously held by Olympian Penny Oleksiak! While being all too modest, she said “Not quite how I wanted it to go but each day it got a little better and overall, it was an amazing experience!”
Kenna Smallegange
Kenna, a 2021 Notre Dame Graduate, is heading to North Carolina State to join their swim team and study Civil Engineering. She spent this past week in Toronto competing at the Canadian Olympic Swimming Trials. This was an elite competition with only the top 20 swimmers in the country for each event invited to participate. Kenna, who also excels in 10km open water swimming, came home from the Olympic Trials with some very impressive results, finishing in the top 10 in three events.
When asked to reflect on the experience, Kenna said: “I would like to thank everyone for the cheers, messages, love and encouragement that I received. You have helped make this experience even more special. This past week was really hard for me and was not how I wanted to end this crazy season. Although I am disappointed with myself for not swimming my best, these experiences, alongside the obstacles that COVID has presented, have made me stronger and I am excited by the opportunities in the near future. Congratulations Ella on some fantastic swims!”
The Notre Dame community is looking forward to seeing great things from Kenna in the future, both in and out of the pool!