Next Wave up and Coming Swimmers Series

We are proud to spotlight a group of up and coming para swimmers and 14 & Under swimmers who are making their mark within the TAG (Top Age Group) Rankings across Canada. Recognized through the leadership and support of the Canadian Swim Coaches Association (CSCA), these athletes represent the next wave of Canadian swimming excellence.

As we launch this series, we celebrate the coaches, clubs, and families who support these swimmers — and we look forward to following their journey as they continue to rise within Canada’s performance pathway.

Kaia Hornby has committed to the phrase “let’s make a deal”.

Hold on, we’re not talking about the American television game show where people are offered deals and then choose to keep what they have or make a trade for the possibility of winning something larger.

Her arrangement is in the form of being chosen as a carded athlete in Canada.

Those not familiar with an aspect of the amateur sports system in this country need to know that Hornby receives direct, non-taxable financial assistance from Sport Canada's Athlete Assistance Program (AAP).

The funding not only assists with living, training, and education expenses, but is intended to allow top-level athletes an opportunity to focus on training for international competitions. As for the trajectory, it’s the World championships and Olympic Games.

Only 14 years old, Hornby is an ambitious high-performance Canadian swimmer. Talented, focussed and one who cherishes the sport.

She’s what some in the world of athletics would refer to as a prospect or envisioning the startup of a looming star in the water. Others, like Canada’s national sport organization for swimming, would go much further.

Swimming Canada has recognized the potential of Hornby, based on long course performance times, to add her to its National Development Program – one that enhances progression.

In other words, Hornby is a medal candidate at the highest level. Yes, pressure on a teenager, but she’s that good – and in the butterfly, which is regarded as toughest stroke in the sport.

Hornby has already won a slew of medals and awards.

Among her achievements is receiving the 2025 Summer McIntosh INSPIRE scholarship. It’s a Swim Ontario initiative funded by the three-time Olympic champion, eight-time World Aquatics champion, and two-time Commonwealth Games gold medallist.

The award recognizes top young swimmers who have demonstrated world-class potential at a similar age to when McIntosh started her international career.

For Hornby, there are no big secrets to her stardom. The formula appears to be effort, development, performance, personal growth and a realization of her success.

“It’s simply a matter of taking advice from coaches, adapting and doing the best I can,” she said. “Then doing it all over again, based on the stroke, to improve what I’ve already accomplished.”

Born in Orillia, spending a chunk of her younger years in Collingwood, home is now Toronto. She’s a multi-sport athlete at Lawrence Park Collegiate and is a standout academically as well. Her initiation to swimming came at the Orillia YMCA.

Three clubs, who each provided superb coaching, may want to be part of her success story - the Barrie Trojans Swim Club, the Orillia Channel Cats and the Toronto Swim Club. You’ll find her devoting about 16 hours a week combining pool and dryland training at the University of Toronto Athletic Centre.

Hornby started competitive swimming as an eight-year-old in Orillia. Sharing some of her memorable performance highlights in the water, Hornby recalls making the Olympic Trials in the 1,500 metres freestyle at age 12. Last year, again at the Trials, she qualified in the 100 and 200-metres butterfly.

“Anything is possible, you just have to work at it – and then work even harder the next time,” said Hornby, who is interested in a career in law or business and is hoping to earn a scholarship to compete at a National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) Division One school.

At the 2025 Ontario Age Groups in Markham, Hornby set a club record with a time of two minutes, 24.89 seconds to earn a gold medal in 200-metres individual medley, breaking the same club record she set in her preliminary race. She wasn’t finished. Hornby was at the podium again in the 200-metres butterfly in another club record of 2:18.79.

Asked about competing at the 2025 Canada Games in St. John’s, Nfld, Hornby has fond memories of three gold medals. Two came in relays and the other in the 100-metres butterfly.

“Endurance and competitiveness led me to the (butterfly),” said Hornby in a recent conversation in which she also disclosed a hobby of playing the drums. “In the water, I like trying the hardest stroke, challenging myself and finding ways to improve each time.”

Already this year, Hornby is back in the spotlight. In April at the Canadian Open championships in Edmonton, Hornby earned a bronze medal in the 200-metres butterfly.

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.