Swim Ontario Japan Tour Team

Swim Ontario has an ongoing relationship with the City of Sagamihara, a suburb of Tokyo, and the Sagamihara Swimming Association in Japan and for the past few years a delegation of Japanese swimmers has come to Toronto in December to race at the Ontario Junior International swim meet. On December 16th – 23rd, Swim Ontario was lucky to be able to send a team of own back to Japan with them as part of an international exchange.

The team consisted of six athletes (Kenna Smallegange, Genevieve Sasseville, Dylan Scholes, Ben Loewen, Michael Sava & Kevin Park) and 3 staff members (Don Burton, Sergei Soloukhin & Karen Wilson).

The trip was non-stop and action packed from the moment we touched down in Japan, an unforgettable cultural experience for the entire team.

"Through swimming I have visited many countries, with great respect to every place I have visited. Japan was impressive on so many aspects: with how polite, professional, happy and how over the top hard working they are all while being supportive and gracious to everyone around them. The people from Japan are next level. I am humbled by them," said Don Burton, coach at the Ontario Swimming Academy.

Swimmers were able to stay with a host family for two nights while in Japan where they were truly immersed in the Japanese culture and lifelong friendships were formed, we can’t thank the families enough for taking such great care of our athletes! Sagamihara Swimming Association and the homestay families went above and beyond with their hospitality and generosity, they made sure that we were well looked after, had a great time and that we were able to enjoy some amazing Japanese culture.

"All in all Japan was a once in a lifetime experience. My homestay family treated me so well - I felt like a celebrity! They were very nice and welcoming and the food was delicious. I learned a lot in terms of my swimming and I will never complain about a crowded warm up pool EVER again," said Ben Loewen from CREST Swimming.

The main purpose of our trip was to train with the Japanese athletes at various pools and to also attend a swim meet that ran in Sagamihara on Dec 21st -22nd. The swim meet was definitely quite the experience with 2500 swimmers competing in the meet. Despite dealing with the many changes and challenges such as the time change, long days with little rest, different food, different language, different meet format, an incredibly packed meet, staying with a new family thrown at them, the Ontario athletes were amazing; They were fantastic ambassadors for swimming in Ontario; very resilient, adaptable and just rolled with all the unknowns and changes that came their way and despite all the challenges they still managed to focus on their races and swim fast leaving the meet with unique wooden medals, and a new found confidence of just how capable and adaptable they are regardless of the challenges.

The team was treated to a number of cultural experiences and outings. A day was spent in Kamakura where they went on a rickshaw ride of the city, visited temples, a bamboo garden and the Great Buddha while there. A trip to Tokyo to visit the Olympic Stadium and Olympic Pool was a very memorable and impactful experience for us.

"Attending the Olympic Pool and Open Water venue in Tokyo was something else, a well planned day for our team. The hospitality – the welcoming, daily supervision and cultural excursions not to mention the gifts to our swimmers, coaches and staff members - was unprecedented. Overall, it was a tremendous cultural experience as well as a perfect occasion for visiting the country which will be hosting the 2020 Olympic Games," said BAD coach, Sergi Soloukhin.

The team spent the day at a local school where athletes spent time in a classroom with the Japanese students and participated in a game of soccer during gym class. As a token of our thanks, our athletes presented the school with a Canadian and Ontario flag and some Canadian pins & maple cookies for the students.

"I was so lucky to be given the opportunity to go with Swim Ontario to Japan. I was continually impressed by the work ethic and energy of the Japanese swimmers and by the end of the week, felt it had rubbed off on me too. It was not only a great way to practice swimming in a different setting and expand my skill set but it was also a unique and eye opening cultural experience. I made lifelong friends that I hope to stay in touch with, tried sushi for the first time (and loved it), visited cultural monuments and even picked up a bit of the Japanese language. The Japanese people were so welcoming and kind and made me feel so special. I was truly honoured to get to go on this trip." said Kenna Smallegange, BAD.

CREST's Kevin Park agreed, "The experience of travelling to Japan and racing there was definitely a once in a lifetime experience. It has made a huge impact on my career, learning new skills, watching people from another country swim and the experience of a long distance travel meet. I learned that there are fast swimmers all around the world competing to accomplish their goals. Travelling to Japan was definitely one of the best experiences of my life. I would like to thank Swim Ontario for the opportunity to have this experience."