First Time Olympians Series

Welcome to our new profile series highlighting Ontario's first time Olympic and Paralympic qualifiers who will be in Paris this summer.

Appetizers are what food connoisseurs usually refer to as munchies or samples.

For many athletes, they, too, have a word to describe what takes place before their version of the main course. Some refer to it as practice, preparation, hard work, and a slew of other adjectives.

Look at it in a difference manner, and one could call it an annuity of sorts. It’s where you put the time in that goes towards achieving a plan – and, if you’re fortunate, it pays you back with a premium of some kind of success.

Let’s cut the jargon, gobbledygook and jibber jabber and see what this all means to a young swimmer born and raised in the Canadian western culture of Calgary. His name – Lorne Wigginton.

When it relates to swimming, right now Wigginton might not be a household name of aquatic stardom. To others, making it to France this summer, not as a tourist, but as a first-time Canadian Olympian at the prestigious 2024 Summer Games is, as the expression says, it’s something to write home about.

Wigginton didn’t have to do any writing. Same for texting, or phoning. His parents and sister were all in attendance to cheer him on in four events at the Canadian Olympic Trials, hosted by the Toronto Pan Am Sports Centre (TPASC) in May.

When it was all over, words like superb and impressive could be used in the vocabulary to describe hours, days, months, and years of his dedication to the sport and efforts in the water.

He was going to the biggest sports event in the world – the one that attracts the best athletes from more than 200 countries around the world. Wigginton would be swimming with the elite.

Deep down, Wigginton was hoping for an Olympic qualifying time in his marquee event – the 400-metres individual medley. After finishing eight laps of the pool, and a silver medal for placing second, he missed that key time by just over a second.

Disappointed by the failure of his expectations, the expression was evident on his face. It would have been quite easy to carry his frustrations in a manner that would certainly affect several other races.

That’s not Wigginton. For him, the focus came 24 hours later in the 200-metres freestyle. He did place third, was awarded a bronze medal, clocked in one minute, 47.93 seconds. It was also a personal best.

So, what kind of reaction came from the 18-year-old?

“I was super relieved – not just with my time, my ability to do my best but also to get selected to the Canadian Olympic team,” he said. “I was relieved, super happy and proud. This was very big for me and felt even better after what happened the day before.

“I worked hard in the 400-metres (individual medley). It is my best event, and I was quite sad missing out. But it is what it is. Sometimes things work out and sometimes they don’t – and you just keep training and trying to get better.”

Wigginton knew before the 200-metres race, that Canada’s team to the Games of the XXXIII Olympiad would be taking the top four finishers in the 200-metres freestyle. That would make up the relay team.

“They announced the swimmers who would make the team and my name was on it,” he said. “I’ll never forget that moment – going to the Olympics. Then, I saw it on paper. It hit me and it still is. Everything you work for. It sunk into my head and, well, it’s hard to describe that feeling. I thought, this is crazy, I’m going to the Olympics at age 18.”

Super excited may be an understatement to describe the young man who started swim lessons at age seven. That same year, he swam competitively for the University of Calgary Swim Club. Now, having graduated from high school, it’s moving on to an athletic scholarship at one of the top 20 post-secondary institutions in the United States - the University of Michigan in Ann Arbor.

Give his parents credit. Both are competitive swimmers and so is his 17-year-old sister.

At 10 years of age, Wigginton set his first club record at the Alberta Provincials. On the international circuit, last year he competed at the World championships in Japan and placed ninth in the 400-metres individual medley. He did drop almost three second off his personal best time. A few months later, at the World Juniors in Israel, he took home bronze medals in the 200 and 400-metres individual medley races.

“I’m still very young and the Olympics is another chance for a taste of experience,” he said. “I’m hoping for the best but will see how it all works out. I hope I still have a few more Olympics ahead of me. I will go to have some fun, enjoy it, and help my teammates who want to do Canada proud.”

Wigginton knows his competitive days are numbered.

“I’m going to take swimming as far as I can, but know it won’t last forever,” he said. “School selection is important. I also have to make money sometime and a career right now thinking about business and finance, so I reached out to Michigan and things worked out.”

For the past year, Wigginton has been training with the High Performance Centre - Ontario in Toronto at TPASC. As for preparing for the Olympic excitement, the hullabaloo of a packed arena, doesn’t bother him.

“When I am in water, relaxed and having fun is when I do my best,” he said. “I live a simple life and do what I must do. I remind myself how much I love swimming. I keep telling myself that nothing my opponents do in the pool will affect me. My focus is to set myself up for the best, work extra hard and be there for the other guys on the team.”

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.