Captured by Michael Hutchinson
Edited by Colemon Hodges
Reported by Mitch Bowmile
With the 2015 Canadian Swimming Trials just days away, Brittany MacLean announced to SwimSwam that she would not be fighting for a spot on the Canadian World Championship roster, and instead will be looking to make the 2015 Pan Am team which will compete in Toronto this summer.
“I’ve already decided that I’m not going to compete at Worlds this summer. That was a decision I made because I think everyone has their preparation towards the Olympic year and this is what I’ve decided I need to do for myself”
MacLean has already spoken with Swimming Canada and removed her eligibility for the World Championships roster, meaning that her best hope of an international team this season would be the Pan Am team.
“I hope to compete at Pan Ams, I want to represent Canada. I still love racing, I still love doing all that, I think it would be great in front of a home crowd, and it would be an honour to compete there”
MacLean is coming off her junior year at Georgia where she just ended off the season at the NCAA Championships in Greensboro, NC. There, MacLean focused on the distance events where her best race was a seventh place finish in the 500. MacLean was ninth in the 1650.
Although her results weren’t exactly up to par with her two NCAA titles from 2014, MacLean’s times were fairly solid considering that she’s been battling injury all season long. She has an on-going shoulder problem and an issue with her hamstring that’s preventing her from posting the times she wants.
The injuries are one of the main factors that helped shaped MacLeans decision,”I need a few weeks to let my body heal if I want to give it a go next year.”
Next year will be a big one for MacLean as it marks both her senior year at Georgia as well as the 2016 Olympics. Already an Olympic finalist, MacLean is preparing to use the Pan Am games to help her focus on next season. She’ll take a break after the games to rest, and then return to Georgia shortly after to get back in the swing of things.
MacLean is one of Canada’s top international swimmers as she demonstrated at the 2012 Olympics, 2014 Commonwealth Games, and 2014 Pan Pacific Championships.
Braden, you see that I was right when I wrote that Miss MacLean had some injuries and that was the explanation of her tough NCAAs. I had heard that news in a Jack Bauerle’s interview. I don’t still have a perfect English but I can still understand some little things. 😉
Good decision Brittany! Don’t give up…you can come back.
Smart decision on Brittanys part.
Sitting out of World Champs will give her 4 weeks to recover and refocus for the important year ahead.
Going to be hard not to watch her at World Champs… but all the best to her!
Smart choice. Brit swims for Eswim and Pan Ams will be a cross town meet for her. This keeps her close to her support system to help heal those injuries too. It also opens doors for another swimmer to gain experience at worlds.