Richmond Rapids graduate Nicolaas Dekker has been selected as a Swimming Canada carded athlete for 2014-2015.

For the next fiscal year, Dekker will receive top-tier funding to train and compete, which includes fully funded training trips, travel meets, and any needed equipment, and racing suits.

National level carding is only given to a select group of high-performance athletes. Recipients are expected to improve at international levels for the duration of their carding, which is reviewed annually for renewal.

What made Dekker a strong pick for Swimming Canada was not a single, golden-moment swim, but a collection of consistent improvements and high-level dependability for over a year. Regardless of a meet’s importance or environment, Dekker was regularly achieving personal best times across all events, and simultaneously posting nationally competitive times in butterfly, his strongest stroke.

As a decade-long member, Nic Dekker is true Rapids stock. He began with the Rapids as a 10-and-under swimmer in AGD2, after starting his career in summer swimming. At 11, Dekker went through the Regional Development program, and quickly qualified for PAG. After a few years, he began training under Head Coach Robert Pettifer in the National-level program. Dekker is the first Rapids athlete to go through the entire competitive program and finish on the national carding list.

Nic is now a first-year student at the University of Alberta, where he was awarded an athletic scholarship.