Kyla Leibel was as surprised as anyone when she raced her way onto the Swimming Canada Senior National Team.
The 16-year-old Red Deer product accomplished the feat in late July when she finished third in the 100-metre freestyle at the Canadian Swimming Trials in Edmonton.
“I looked at the heat sheets the night before the 1oo free and I was going in third. They take the top four spots. I was freaking out,” she recalled of her race experience in Edmonton.
“I got to the race and I was confident and I finished third, it was amazing, behind Penny Oleksiak and Alexia Zevnik.”
That earned her a position on the senior national team for the Pan Pacific Swimming Championships in Toyko, Japan from Aug. 9-12.
Originally, Leibel was supposed to swim at the Junior Pan Pacific event in Fiji that is set for late August.
She was the youngest member of the Canadian contingent in Tokyo last week and she said it was an unforgettable experience. At the meet, she was in the same races as Olympians Katie Ledecky, Simone Manuel and teammate Taylor Ruck.
“There were a lot of people on the team that I’ve looked up to for the last six years. It’s crazy to think I can swim at the same level as them. They’re so nice and accepting. It was cool,” said Leibel, who won’t turn 17 until October.
“I made three B-Finals, which was so exciting because I wasn’t expecting that at all and everyone there is so high class. Best times in all my events, I took off so much time.”
The young swimmer dashed to three personal bests under the bright lights and big crowds in Tokyo. She knocked two one-hundredths of a second off her time in the 100m and in the 50m raced to a time of 25.43 seconds. She also raced in the 200m free and in 100m butterfly, Leibel finished in 1:00.75. She was in B-Finals for three of her races.
“It was also crazy performing in that environment because it’s so high class. It’s very intense. There’s a big crowd, they have screens everywhere. You’re on the jumbotron, it’s so much different from national level meets here,” she said.
“It was so great, you were almost treated like a celebrity. People want you to sign stuff and they’re taking pictures with you. It’s so cool and it was such a great experience. Japan is so different from here.”
Leibel will take the next step in her swimming career in September when she joins the Victoria NextGen program. While she says it’s exciting, the teen has plenty of fond memories from her time in Central Alberta.
Four years ago, Leibel and her family moved from Medicine Hat to Red Deer so she could join the Catalina. She said the memories she’s made with the club are irreplaceable.
“I’ve made so many lifelong friends in Red Deer. I’m so close with the high-performance group there. They’re my best friends, I’ll definitely miss them,” she said.
“Coach Scott (Wilson) was a great coach and I’m sad to be leaving all of them. It’s been a great run with Red Deer Catalina and I’m grateful for my teammates and coaches and them getting me to where I am now. Helping me and supporting me along the way.”
The next big competition for the young phenom is a chance to represent Canada at the Youth Olympics in Argentina in October. Facing the best swimmers in the world her age, Leibel is hoping to bring home a medal.
“I’m hoping to final, and hopefully get a medal. That would be cool,” she added. “I have a good shot in my 200m free.”
Longer term, the 2020 Olympics in Tokyo are the destination.
“I’m trying to get a relay spot because they will probably be taking four, maybe six freestylers for the relay. I’m hoping to be in that top six and I was this trials. I hope in 2020 it will be the same outcome,” she said.
Email sports tips to Byron Hackett
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