Northwestern Ontario swimmers hope to make big splash at 2017 Canada Summer Games

Team Ontario will have strong representation from the northwest part of the province in the pool at the Canada Summer Games, says a member of the provincial coaching staff.

A pair of 15-year-old swimmers earned two of the coveted 12 spots on the Team Ontario swim team, said Stewart McLean, who is also the head coach of the Thunderbolts Swim Club in Thunder Bay, Ontario.

Gabe Mastromatteo of Kenora is a breaststroke specialist who broke a Canadian Age Group record (13-14) in the final of the 100-metre breaststroke at the 2017 Canadian Swimming Trials in Victoria, British Columbia.

Lindsay Puhalski of Thunder Bay earned her place on the team with a qualifying time in the gruelling 400-metre individual medley.

But achieving that mark was a two-year process for Puhalski, involving many hours in the pool in Thunder Bay and occassionally flying to Toronto for special training camps, said McLean, who also coaches her.

"Those 12 spots were tough to get into and so she's really had to do some stuff that has forced her out of her comfort zone, has probably shown her how tough she is, probably stuff she never thought she'd be able to do but as weird as it sounds it's probably only the first step along a long road for her," he said.

The road to making the team for larger sporting events like the Canada Summer Games, the Pan-Am Games and the Olympic Games can be exhausting, said McLean.

The April day that Puhalski achieved her Games qualifying time "was probably one of the best swims she's ever had in her life but it was probably the most taxing swim and the one that took the most out of her, and it wasn't so much just that physical feel, it was the emotion and the mental stress around it."

Puhalski said she believes "you always have to try your best and swim fast" but she admits she feels more pressure when she has to complete the race in a very specific time.

She fights through the pain of pushing her muscles to the limit by remembering her training, having confidence in her abilities and thinking "this is going to be over soon, you're going to be able to get out of the pool after this."

Puhalski explained that she is excited about racing in Winnipeg, but with several days to go before the swim competition begins, she knows she still has work to do.

"I'm pretty proud of myself to make the team and to go to the Games, but it's not over yet. I still have to swim and train".

Puhalski is not the only ThunderBolt swimmer to have achieved success this season.

She and five other athletes from the Thunderbolts club competed in the RBC Canadian Junior Championships in July, and together the group made 15 finals.

Among them was 17-year-old Emma Schlyter, who was awarded a full academic and athletic scholarship to the University of Idaho, categorized as a Division 1 school by the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA).

Puhalski will be competing in the breaststroke, backstroke, freestyle, individual medley and relay events when the Canada Summer Games swimming schedule begins August 7.