The York Lions swim team is one of the most talented teams on campus. The team boasts record-breakers, and even athletes who placed sixth in the Olympic trials. However, it doesn’t receive the same spotlight as other teams.
In an interview, Brett D’Souza, head coach of the swim team, discusses the team’s growth and development: “I think [we honestly] had a really good recruiting class come in this year, with big additions to the team, so the growth of the team has been substantial”.
D’Souza also speaks on having one of his swimmers, Eric Ginzburg, participate in the Olympic trials: “It was massive last year to have Eric go to Olympic trials,not just attend, but to [finish] sixth.” He further adds that Eric’s performance puts York’s swim team on the map.
Just last weekend, Mariam Farid broke a team record at the Brock University swimming invitational, a record that dates back twenty years.
“It feels good! Hard work [definitely] pays off; Coach Brett helped me with my technique a lot,” Farid shares. “Also, my teammates cheering me on [all] made that possible, so I’m proud of myself.”
Women’s team captain Corinne Hoang shares her thoughts on the lack of coverage of the swim team by York media: “As captain of the swim team, I’m also in charge of the social media, so I’m trying to figure out any way that I can to get [our] name out there. I think the use of a university website will be very useful; so in case someone looks us up, you’d have the information out there. Honestly, any platform that we could be on, I want [the team] to be on.”
Men’s team captain Simon Rasmussen also shares his thoughts on the lack of coverage, expressing that “posting more” about the team would “definitely” help. Rasmussen adds: “We are still a big team, performing well, and we’re showing up. I think if we got recognized a bit more and put out there, that would help us [significantly].”
If you look through the York Athletics website, the swim team is not on the varsity athletics dropdown menu. However, individual open sports like tennis and wrestling are. Even on the Instagram page, the swim team does not get much love compared to the likes of football, soccer, and hockey.
York’s swim team continues to fly under the radar despite impressive accomplishments — from Ginzburg’s standout performance at the Olympic trials, to Farid’s strong showing at the Brock Invitational. With their next event at Laurier on Nov. 9, this team has proven their talent and dedication, and they are more than ready for a well-deserved spotlight.
