Mighty Barracuda Olympic Trials Spotlight: Alex Beyea

Mighty Barracuda Olympic Trials Spotlight: Alex Beyea
Thursday, May 2, 2024

Welcome to the first of NKB’s Olympic Trials Spotlight Series!  Over the coming weeks, we will be introducing you to the many Mighty Barracudas you will be cheering on as they chase their Olympic dream at the 2024 Bell Canadian Olympic Trials being held May 13-19, 2024 at the Toronto Pan Am Sports Centre.  So, without further ado….

Swimmer: Alex Beyea
Age: 16 years
Current Grade: 11
School: John McCrae Secondary School

Years Swimming: 6 years as a Mighty Barracuda!
Events at Olympic Trials: 200 FLY

Pre-Race Routine: Sit behind his lane and visualize his race
Best Pump Up Song: Look at Me! XXXTENTACION
Favourite Food: 

Favorite food - pesto pasta

Favorite meal - Surf and Turf

Favorite on deck snack: Yoggies and welch's
What he does when a race doesn’t go as planned: Refocus with David Goggins inspirational speeches, or similar motivational speakers

If he could give advice to his 10 year old self, what would it be? Keep swimming, and keep up with the practices.

As you will see in the coming weeks, no journey to Olympic levels follows the same course.  There are twists and turns, ups and downs, and sometimes we’re even on completely different paths.  For Alex, he wasn’t even on the swimming path to begin with!  His athletic journey started with him playing hockey.  While he was ever the athlete, he was a bit injury prone in hockey so switched to swimming because it was the “safe” choice. 

Alex never held back and it wasn’t too long before he found himself climbing up the podiums.  As he heads to Olympic Trials, it’s a bit of a coming full circle moment. Recalling his favorite memories and when he felt he accomplished his first “big” goal, he spoke of making his first Swim Ontario Festival Championships in 2019 which were held at TPASC, the same place he will be in a few weeks time.  He credits the support of being part of a big team and traveling together to creating an environment where he succeeds. “There is lots of support and competition among the groups” he shares, continuing to speak to how he will consciously hype teammates up and create that energy whether it’s the full squad at the Green & Black meet or a smaller squad traveling across the country to national level meets. His commitment to always showing up to practice, healthy nutrition choices, and dryland work away from the pool certainly help him find success, too. 

“From an okay first season that included a whole meet where he got DQ'd in everything to zig-zagging his way down the lane with his goggles around his neck at OttawaU, Alex has found many ways to challenge himself. He learned that a hamburger is not a great snack before a race, and in Gatineau he found out that Covid Masks and Water don't mix. But we have never questioned Alex's swimming work ethic. He has had passion and an admirable "stick-to-it-iveness" for the sport since he began. We are proud not only of his accomplishment but even more so of his determination to get there!” - Alex’s parents

Even though he may have thought swimming was the safe choice all those years ago, we’re glad he takes risks in his training and threw down some gutsy swims to earn his medals and his spot at the Canadian Olympic Trials.  We can’t wait to cheer him on!






Stay tuned to your email for daily stories of our athletes as we approach the 2024 Bell Canadian Olympic Trials, or visit the News section of the  NKB Swimming website for current and past stories.