Mighty Barracuda Olympic Trials Spotlight: Our Varsity Swimmers
Mighty Barracuda Olympic Trials Spotlight: Our Varsity Swimmers
Sunday, May 12, 2024
Last, and certainly not least, please allow us to present to you some of our esteemed Varsity swimmers!
While the core of NKB is 18 and younger, the journeys of our Mighty Barracudas don’t end when they graduate high school. Many of our athletes continue on to university for both academic and athletic pursuits, with earning scholarships being commonplace among our graduates. They will compete under their University banner during the academic year, but return to their roots the remainder of the season. While their spirit colors may change to match their university, we know the green and black runs deep in their veins.
Breckin, Lydia, Maya, and David, we hope that you are just as proud to continue representing NKB as we are proud to compete under the same banner with you. You are world class athletes, and watching you continue to excel through university attests to your inspirational character.
Swimmer: Breckin Gormley
Age: 20
School: University of South Carolina
Current Grade: 2nd year
Program of Study: Sport Management
Years Swimming: 12 years
Events at Olympic Trials: 200 FR, 400 FR, 800 FR, 100 FLY, 200 FLY
Best Pump Up Song: Sandstorm by Darude
Favourite Food: Mexican Food
What she does when a race doesn’t go as planned: Eat ice cream
Swimmer: Lydia James-Brennan
Age: 19
School: University of Victoria
Current Grade: 1st year
Program of Study: Biology
Years Swimming: 8 years, and while she wasn’t a Junior Barracuda herself, she is a Junior Barracuda coach!
Events at Olympic Trials: 1500 FR
Pre Race Routine: Listen to music
Best Pump Up Song: It’s always changing
Favourite Food: Pizza
What she does when a race doesn’t go as planned: Review my splits and work forward from what they tell me about the race.
If she could give advice to her 10 year old self, what would it be? Go start competitive swimming
Swimmer: Maya McGhan
Age: 19
School: McGill University
Current Grade: 1st year
Program of Study: Commerce
Years Swimming: 11 years
Events at Olympic Trials: 1500 FR
Pre Race Routine: Listen to music and chat with teammates
Best Pump Up Song: SUpercut by Lorde
Favourite Food: Poutine
What she does when a race doesn’t go as planned: Just breathe. You can’t have great races without bad ones first. It’s all part of the process!
If she could give advice to her 10 year old self, what would it be? Make sure you are swimming for the right reasons. There is a huge mental aspect to swimming and performance. Do it because you love it. Age group swimming holds some of my favourite memories - enjoy the time spent with your teammates, at swim meets, at training camps, and everything in between!
Swimmer: David Quirie
Age: 21
School: Florida State University
Current Grade: Graduate, with honours, Class of 2024
Program of Study: Chemical Engineering
Years Swimming: 15 years, and it all started with Junior Barracudas!
Events at Olympic Trials: 100 FR, 200 FR
Pre Race Routine: Wishing good luck to swimmers beside me and splash myself with water
Best Pump Up Song: White Noise by Disclosure, AlunaGeorge
Favourite Food: Butter Chicken
What he does when a race doesn’t go as planned: Give myself until I'm done warmdown to be mad about it, then move past it. Review what went wrong in practice after.
If he could give advice to his 10 year old self, what would it be? Keep having fun with the sport, being too serious sucks all of the enjoyment out of it.
