2025 Canada Games Profile

Leading up to the Canada Games, Swim Ontario is highlighting some of the members of our fantastic team!

There are things taken for granted in the world of competitive swimming.

The ability to push the limits during training and the importance of proper hydration, the warm-ups and support from family, friends and the community. There is also the feeling of weightlessness in water, like floating in space, and the friendship created with competitors and teammates.

Tack on the ability to benefit from the dedication to the sport and coaching.

There’s one more thing that is evident, especially by people watching the development of young swimmers. That’s the ability to spot a rising star.

Gavin Schinkelshoek, a 16-year-old, could be a swimmer to watch.

Home for him, and his family, is Pain Court – an agricultural village in southwestern Ontario and a community you might very well miss while travelling from Toronto to Windsor.

He’s got more going for him than that a 6-foot-2 frame and being an academic honors student.

“Swimming in Canada is very high on my radar.,” he said. “I am excited to be invited to visit the Canadian High Performance centres for a week in Vancouver in November and Toronto in January. I basically would like to go where I can continue to be the best swimmer I can be.”

Schinkelshoek is focussed on success in the sport – and, eventually, securing an athletic scholarship to a major university. It will likely be one that has a strong educational history as well as a powerful swim program in the National Collegiate Athletic Association.

There are some people in the Canadian swim community who are firm believers that Schinkelshoek will be wearing the red and white in major international competitions – and the words heard in relation to him, and his future, are Pan Am, Commonwealth, World and Olympics are in the discussions.

For now, he’s focussed on doing well at his first Canada Games set for August 8 to 25 in St. John’s, Nfld. Getting to the Aquarena Fitness Complex, site of the swim competition on the campus of Memorial University, will be easy. Leaving there, with personal best times and trips to the podium for medal presentations, could very well be more challenging.

Schinkelshoek is a noticeable individual, positive thinking and quite remarkable at what he has accomplished since he started competing at age seven. He’s also a member of the Windsor Aquatic Club – one of the largest and most successful in Canada.

Outside of swimming, Schinkelshoek likes designing things and is serious about studying and having a career in architectural civil engineering. That’s designing and construction of infrastructure while also incorporating the more specialized fields that include structural, mechanical, electrical, and environmental systems.

That’s in the years to come. For now, he’s designing personal things - like improving times in swim races and building on his collection of medals and awards.

Team Ontario has chosen 34 swimmers to compete in the 16th Canada Summer Games. In the Olympic stream, where Schinkelshoek fits in, there are 24 athletes. Paralympic athletes total six while Special Olympics has four swimmers.

Schinkelshoek, who trains nine times a week for a total of 16.5 hours, learned of his selection to a strong Ontario team via an e-mail that was sent to his father and then shared with the family. With Schinkelshoek’s improved swim times, it was likely not a huge surprise that he was picked.

“2025 has been a great year for me in the pool and going to St. John’s is like putting the cherry on top of the sundae,” said Schinkelshoek, who has already competed in meets in Korea, Mexico and earlier this year in Luxembourg, where he won four medals (three gold) in a Euromeet.

“Although I would love to swim a Canada Games record, I’m striving to break a provincial record set in 2011.”

His personal best time is 26.47 established at the Canadian Trials while also reaching another time of 57.52 in the 100-metres backstroke. While a decision has not been made by the Ontario coaching staff, Schinkelshoek could be swimming in as many as six events in St. John’s.

“It’s pretty straightforward, my goal is a record, winning medals and having as much fun as I can,” added the youngster who, when he’s not in water or focussed on studies, enjoys playing his acoustic guitar to classic rock music. “I am doing well, but there is a lot of stuff that I can do better. I’ve also learned from my experiences and to not put too much pressure on myself.”

Olympic, Paralympic and Special Olympics athletes make up Ontario’s contingent who are set to claim supremacy at the largest amateur sports event in the country. It’s considered to be a showcase of able-bodied athletes and athletes with physical and intellectual disabilities. Stellar performances at previous Canada Games often become a stepping stone to other major events.

David Grossman is a veteran multi award-winning Journalist and Broadcaster with some of Canada’s major media, including the Toronto Star and SPORTSNET 590 THE FAN, and a Public Relations professional for 50+ years in Canadian sports and Government relations.