Former World Junior champion Mabel Zavaros has been added to Swimming Canada’s roster for the 2022 Commonwealth Games. Her nomination comes after a roster spot was made available by the withdrawal of seven-time Olympic medalist Penny Oleksiak earlier this week.
Zavaros was on the Canadian roster for the last edition of the Commonwealth Games in 2018. There, she placed 8th in the 100 fly and 6th in the 200 fly. She was the country’s only entrant in the latter race.
Zavaros, 22, made her senior national team debut at the 2018 Commonwealth Games in Gold Coast, Australia, after a promising showing at the 2017 FINA World Junior Championships in Indianapolis.
She was fourth in the 200-m butterfly at World Juniors, and took home a gold medal after swimming a prelims leg of the 4×200-m freestyle relay.
She has won medals at the past three Canadian Trials, but fallen short of the senior qualifying standards.
At the 2022 Canadian National Championships in April, Zavaros placed 2nd in the 800 free (8:42.16) and the 200 fly (2:11.68). In the latter race, her specialty, she placed behind 15-year old wunderkind Summer McIntosh, who finished in a 2:07.
Zavaros swam more recently at the Atlanta Classic in the United States, where she won the 200 fly in 2:12.33. All of these meets were coming out of an NCAA Championship-qualifying season at the University of Florida. Because of multiple redshirts and waivers to focus on international competition, Zavaros is only listed as a rising junior at Florida, though her collegiate career began in 2018.
At NCAAs, she finished 6th in the 400 IM in a personal best time of 4:06, plus 32nd in the 200 fly and 20th in the 200 back.
“I don’t think I’ve ever experienced a greater feeling than when I am representing Canada at an international competition,” Zavaros said. “The time I have been off the national team has made moments like this and many other moments this year a lot more special to me. I definitely took some time to stop and appreciate the people around me that have helped me grow in and out of the pool.”
Canada won 20 medals in the pool at the 2018 Commonwealth Games in Australia with 3 gold, eleven silver and 6 bronze medals. That was Canada’s third-largest swimming medal haul, behind only Auckland 1990 (23 medals) and Kuala Lumpur 1998 (21).
Canada’s updated roster is below.
| MEN | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Acevedo, Javier | Markham Aquatic Club | Jack Bauerle | Toronto, ON | Scarborough, ON |
| Bagshaw, Jeremy | Island Swimming Club | John Szaranek | Victoria, BC | Victoria, BC |
| Bennett, Nicholas | CHP-Québec | Mike Thompson | Parksville, BC | Parksville, BC |
| Brown, Eric | Pointe-Claire Swim Club | Martin Gingras | Pointe-Claire, QC | Pointe-Claire, QC |
| Calkins, Stephen | University of Calgary Swim Club | Mike Blondal | Calgary, AB | Calgary, AB |
| Dergousoff, James | Chena Swim Club | Pat Paradis | Christina Lake, BC | Vancouver, BC |
| Elliot, Alec | Rouge et Or/ Université Laval | Marc-André Pelletier | Kitchener, ON | Quebec City, QC |
| Gagne, Collyn | Simon Fraser Aquatics | Liam Donnelly | Milton, ON | Burnaby, BC |
| Gaziev, Ruslan | Markham Aquatic Club | Robert Novak | Moscow, Russia | Toronto, ON |
| Hussey, Patrick | Pointe-Claire Swim Club | Mark Gangloff | Beaconsfield, QC | Beaconsfield, QC |
| Knox, Finlay | High Performance Centre – Ontario | Ben Titley | Okotoks, AB | Toronto, ON |
| Liendo, Joshua | High Performance Centre – Ontario | Ben Titley | Markham, ON | Markham, ON |
| Turbide, Nicolas-Guy | Club de Natation Region de Quebec | Marc-André Pelletier | Quebec City, QC | Quebec City, QC |
| WOMEN | ||||
| Angus, Sophie | Unattached Canada | Katie Robinson | Weston, CT | Weston, CT |
| Bellio, Katrina | Etobicoke Swimming | Rob Novak | Mississauga, ON | Mississauga, ON |
| Bérubé, Camille | Natation Gatineau | Craig McCord | Gatineau, QC | Gatineau, QC |
| Cieplucha, Tessa | Markham Aquatic Club | Sean Baker | Georgetown, ON | Georgetown, ON |
| Harvey, Mary-Sophie | Club Aquatique Montreal | Claude St-Jean | Trois-Rivières, QC | Montreal, QC |
| Jansen, Ella | Etobicoke Swimming | Robert Novak | Burlington, ON | Burlington, ON |
| Kisser, Danielle | CHP-Québec | Mike Thompson | Delta, BC | Montreal, QC |
| Mac Neil, Margaret | High Performance Centre – Ontario | Ben Titley | London, ON | London, ON |
| Masse, Kylie | High Performance Centre – Ontario | Ben Titley | LaSalle, ON | Toronto, ON |
| McIntosh, Summer | High Performance Centre – Ontario | Ben Titley | Toronto, ON | Toronto, ON |
| Pickrem, Sydney | High Performance Centre – Ontario | Ben Titley | Clearwater, Florida, USA | Toronto, ON |
| Rivard, Aurélie | C. N. Région de Québec | Marc-André Pelletier | St-Jean-Sur-Richelieu, QC | Quebec City, QC |
| Roxon, Katarina | Aqua Aces Swim Club | Leonard Roxon | Kippens, NL | Kippens, NL |
| Sanchez, Kayla | High Performance Centre – Ontario | Ben Titley | Scarborough, ON | Scarborough, ON |
| Savard, Katerine | Club Aquatique Montreal | Claude St-Jean | Pont-Rouge, QC | Montreal, QC |
| Smith, Rebecca | University of Calgary Swim Club | Mike Blondal | Red Deer, AB | Toronto, ON |
| Zavaros, Mabel | Markham Aquatic Club | Anthony Nesty | Burlington, ON | Gainesville, FL |
| NAME | POSITION |
|---|---|
| Atkinson, John | Team Leader |
| McDonald, Iain | Asst Team Leader & IST Lead |
| Hanan, Jan | Team Manager |
| Van Steen, Emma | Team Manager |
| Wilby, Martyn | Head Coach |
| Mallette, Ryan | Team Coach |
| Arkhurst, Greg | Team Coach |
| Thompson, Mike | Team Coach |
| Novak, Rob | Team Coach |
| Pelletier, Marc-André | Team Coach |
| Kiefer, Linda | Team Coach |
| Moores, Sierra | Assistant Coach |
| Vandenbogaerde, Tom | Performance Scientist |
| Fuller, Johnny | Physical Performance |
| Bucci, Remo | Massage Therapist |
| Castro, Ron | Massage Therapist |
| Buttle, Meghan | Physiotherapy |
| Olson, Graham | Video Analysis |
| Forsyth, Dr Sara | Physician |
| White, Nathan | Media Attache |
Are you sure that Gaziev represents Markham Aquatic Club? Up until recently he was with Etobicoke swimming, just like Bellio and Jansen. Novak is listed in your table as the coach for all three of them and he is with ESWIM, for sure
🤷🏽♂️That’s what Canada’s official roster lists.
Aww shucks, Mabel! Ya made the team!
Way to go Mabel!!! Congrats 🎉
Just seeing the picture I thought they’d picked an 11 year old, she looks tiny
Are ya doubting all that farm-fresh milk they give to Mable?