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Local swimmer Faith Knelson prepping for junior world champs

Saltair swimmer Faith Knelson has posted big gains since moving to train at the high performance centre in Victoria last year and is now prepping for the FINA World Junior Swimming Championships in August.
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Saltair swimmer Faith Knelson has posted big gains since moving to train at the high performance centre in Victoria last year and is now prepping for the FINA World Junior Swimming Championships in August.

The former Ladysmith &Chemainus Orcas athlete posted best times in her three breaststroke events as well as the 200 Individual Medley (IM) at the Canadian Swimming Trials in early April.

“I just love racing - that’s my favourite part about swimming,” said the 15-year-old.

Last year, Knelson was invited to train with Olympic athletes and the next generation of Canadian swimmers coaches Ryan Mallette and Brad Dingey after posting the fifth fastest time at the Junior Pan Pacific Championships in Hawaii.

“The transition into the program wasn’t easy,” she said. “It was pretty hard for me. I definitely wasn’t as fit as they were and I wasn’t as skilled as they were. It was really difficult for me the first three months of the season.”

An injury and illness weighed on Knelson’s confidence during the lead up to trials, but during her last practice the night before the competition she erased any doubt and decided it was her moment to seize in front of the home crowd.

“I dove in the water and felt so good and I was like this is my home pool, this is the stage, I have to be confident,” she said.

The phenom smashed her personal best in the 200 breaststroke in the heats by four seconds and dropped another two in the final that night to touch the wall in fifth behind older athletes vying for a place on a team heading to Hungary.

“I was really happy with it and I was the first junior to make the team,” she said.

A day later Knelson improved again in her speciality the 100 breaststroke and in that final went out “guns blazing” on the advice of her coach.

The performance was 1.5 seconds faster than in Maui and good enough for third behind two Olympic athletes.

“I was pretty stoked about that,” she said. “Two girls I look up to so much and I was standing on the podium next to them - it was a dream come true.”

On the final day she was out touched for gold by .06 in the 50 breaststroke once again behind an Olympian.

“I was ecstatic about that. I didn’t think I was going to get a medal in that race.,” she said.

Knelson also added a personal best in the 200 IM at trials and may look to add that to her list of races at world juniors in Indianapolis in August.

The competition will attract over 1,000 of the best girls aged 14-17 and boys age 15-17 from 100 different countries.

Despite all her continued success that’s taken her to destinations around the globe, Knelson appreciates all the messages of support from here at home.

“I’m never going to forget that I grew up in Ladysmith and that four lane 25 metre pool made me the swimmer that I am and gave me the opportunities to be an international athlete,” she said.





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