VICTORIA, British Columbia, July 30. SWIMMING Canada honoured three time Olympian Rick Say of Salmon Arm and Olympian Brittany Reimer of Victoria in front of their peers tonight during the 2010 Summer National Championships in Victoria.
Say and Reimer have marked the past decade for Canadian swimming.
"Tonight, we honour two great swimmers that have made such a positive impact in our sport," said Pierre Lafontaine, CEO and National Coach for Swimming Canada.
Rick Say is a 3-time Olympian competing in Sydney, Athens and Beijing. In Beijing, Say was part of the Men's 4×200 free relay that swam to a new Canadian record (7:08.04) under the previous World Record mark. Say was also member of the 4×100 free relay that lowered the national mark to 3:12.26.
Many swim enthusiasts would say that Rick's top performance was done in Athens, Say finishing 6th, next to Michael Phelps and Ian Thorpe in the 200 m freestyle event.
"I'm very lucky to have had the opportunity to train here in Victoria," said Say. "There are so many people that have contributed to my swimming career, my coaches, my family, my teammates."
"It's a privilege for me to have coached Rick," said Victoria Swimming Academy head coach Randy Bennett. "Rick was the guy you wanted on your team when going to battle."
Say is quickly climbing the coaching ranks in Canada. He currently coaches at the Victoria Swimming Academy with Randy Bennett.
Victoria native, Olympian Brittany Reimer started competing internationally for Canada since she was 15 years old and has been on top of the international podium numerous times. At the 2005 World Aquatic Championships in Montreal, Brittany smashed her own Canadian record in the 1500m freestyle with a time of 16:07.73 to earn herself a bronze medal. She continued her record-breaking performance and medal haul in the 800m freestyle. Brittany won the silver medal in a Canadian record time of 8:27.59.
"I thank everyone who has supported me during my all my years as a swimmer," said retired distance swimmer Brittany Reimer of Victoria. "I would not be the person I am and the athlete I was without the great support of my coaches. I have made lots of great friends along the way, and I will always cherish the moments I have spent with them and sharing the successes and the tears."
"Brittany always liked to have fun while swimming," said Cory Beatt, one of Brittany's past coaches while in Surrey. "She was always very competitive and wanting to win, even in practice. But, she always turned it into a game."
Brittany is now living in Vancouver and working in real-estate. She says that her work ethics in sports has transferred into her new career.
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