2021 Post Secondary Performance Scholarship

Swim Ontario is pleased to announce that the successful recipients of the 2021 Post-Secondary Performance Scholarship are Maksym Klakov and Carter Buck. Both athletes plan on attending the University of Toronto and compete as Varsity Blues, a program that has seen great varsity swimming success under the direction of long-time coaches Byron MacDonald and Linda Kiefer. “These two young men are the cream of the crop in Ontairo and we are quite pleased to add them to our roster for next fall,” said Varsity Blues Head Coach Byron MacDonald.

Both Klakov and Buck are currently coached by former Blues swimmers of MacDonald.

Klakov, a longtime member of the Newmarket Stingrays, is coached by new head coach Dave Ling who swam for the Blues in the early 2000s. A student at Sacred Heart High School in Newmarket, Klakov excels at sciences and has applied to kinesiology at UofT. Klakvov had a successful 2019 swimming season that saw him win both the 50 and 100 freestyle events at the Summer Ontario Swimming Championships, participation in Swim Ontario race simulation camp and recipient of 2019 Quest For Gold Funding.

Buck a London, Ontario native and born and bred London Aquatic Club (LAC) member, has successfully managed his performance aspirations both in the pool and classroom. A grade 12 student at Sir Frederick Banting Secondary School, Buck has his sights set on the Rotman Commerce program at UofT.  Under the direction of LAC head coach Andrew Craven, a former Varsity Blues swimmer in the 1980s, Buck shone in the 2019 and 2020 seasons.  He was double gold medalist in the 100 and 200 back at the 2019 Ontario Summer Swimming Championships, the 2019 Canadian Junior Swimming Championships and the 2020 spring Ontario Swimming Championships.  He was also a recipient of the 2019 Quest For Gold program.

The intent of the Swim Ontario Post-Secondary Performance Scholarship has always been to award a financial scholarship to two Ontario swimmers to allow the recipients to focus on swimming excellence while pursuing post-secondary academics in Ontario. Swim Ontario, in collaboration with Ontario Post-Secondary Institutions award each recipient $36,000 - $18,000 funded by Swim Ontario to be matched by the post-secondary institution the successful recipients enroll in. Eligibility criteria includes athletes being identified on a published Top 40 highest performing ON-Track Athlete List, eligibility to compete for Canada at the International level, a minimum 80% average in grade 12 and acceptance to a post-secondary program of 2 years or longer at an accredited Ontario University or Ontario College for the Fall of 2021.