Print

E-mail

Text

Short course swimming power and the face of Canada's Olympic swim team this summer, Julia Wilkinson may be her own biggest critic but she's finding ways to make it work in her favour.

The 21-year-old North York Aquatic Club (NYAC) product and resident of North York who originally hails from Stratford, broke the Canadian record (twice) in the women's 100m backstroke at the CN Swimming Olympic selection meet in Montreal in April.

She beat the former mark by just under three-tenths of a second.

The following day she broke the 200m freestyle mark.

But there was no fist-pumping or dramatic celebration dance after the swims, which took her supporters by surprise considering her results meant a punched ticket to the Olympics in Beijing, a dream she had been working toward from an early age.

"Some people were mad at me about that. I guess I didn't have a happy enough reaction, but I was kind of disappointed in myself," said the Vaughan Road Academy grad who is currently in her third year at Texas A and M, a top-five NCAA Division 1 swimming and diving school.

"I was happy about making the team but not satisfied. I have the kind of personality that says nothing is ever good enough... I thought I could've gone faster than what I did."

So, will she be satisfied with an Olympic gold medal around her neck?

"I've been wondering that actually," she chuckled. "I won't be happy if I go as fast as that (at the trials), it won't be good enough.

"I'm the kind of person that can make me or break me depending on what's in my head, so, it's important for me to remember that if I'm happy I'm going to swim fast, if I'm not, I won't be."

Wilkinson, whose training regimen includes 20 hours of in-pool and four hours of dry-land training per week leading up to the Games, will swim in the 200m freestyle, 200m individual medley, 100m backstroke, 4x100m freestyle, 4x200m freestyle and the 4x100m medley in Beijing.

Head coach at NYAC, Murray Drudge, remembers his first impression of his prized student. It was during a national team training camp in the Barbados a few years back.

"I knew this girl had a lot of talent and really could be something if she explored training at a higher level," he said.

In her first year she learned the fundamentals of racing and gained some confidence.

Drudge, who received an Ontario Coach of the Year award in 2006 in part as a result of Wilkinson's silver medal swim with the 4x100 freestyle relay team at the 2006 Pan Pacific championships, admitted that she lacked experience initially, but she was a quick study.

"I could not believe the talent I had to work with," he said. "I can't really explain what a joy it was to coach her. (She) is a real winner and I think the year with NYAC paved the way for her future success."

Olga Macel, an office manager at NYAC, has been a second mother to Wilkinson since welcoming her with open arms in 2005 after leaving her home town.

"Julia is bubbly, always smiling, always upbeat. She's a perfectionist and goes after whatever it is she wants."

Wilkinson's Olympic events take place at Beijing National Aquatics Centre from Aug. 9 to 17.