Three years ago, when Maggie Manning started swimming, she never would have pictured herself swimming at a national event, let alone the Canadian Olympic & Para-swimming Trials.
Earlier this month, Manning rubbed shoulders and swam alongside the best swimmers in the nation at the five-day event held in Toronto, to determine the Olympic and Para-Olympic swimming team that will represent Canada at the 2016 Olympic Summer Games.
“It was surreal – a life changing experience that is hard to put into words,” explains Manning. “If someone would have told me two years ago that I would be where I am, I would have never believed them.”
Manning, 16, was born with severe bilateral hip dysplasia, which means she’s essentially had to grow up without hips. While her condition makes tasks such as walking difficult and painful, Manning has found competitive swimming doesn’t add to the struggles of her disability.
“Swimming has allowed me to cope with my disability. I feel just like everyone else in the water.”
Citing the trials as another stepping stone in her career, Manning competed in seven events, including the 50-metre freestyle, 100-m freestyle, 400-m freestyle, 100-m backstroke, 100-m breaststroke, 100-m butterfly and 200-m individual medley. In the 400-m freestyle, her best event, and the 100-m butterfly Manning reached the A finals, and in the 50-m and 100-m freestyle events she made the B finals, which were televised.
Manning described her process of listening to pump-up music with plenty of bass in the waiting room before the finals, which was not out of the ordinary. What was new to Manning were the TV cameras following her from the waiting room to the starting block and seeing her image on the jumbo-screen.
“It was nerve-racking. You’re there in the ready room, they announce your name and then there’s a big camera in your face,” she explains.
“It was weird – it’s like I didn’t know what to do with the camera on me. It was show time,” laughs Manning.
Before the start of the trials, Manning discussed with her Selkirks coach Barry Healey what her goals for the event were. Together they decided to shoot for personal bests in each of her events.
Not only did Manning break all of her personal bests, she also broke Selkirks club records.
She placed 10th in the final of the 400-m freestyle, dropping three seconds off her personal best and setting a club record.
When Manning had to give up playing ringette – once her favourite sport – she was disheartened.
“My mom thought I would become a book person, but I was too competitive to let that happen,” said Manning.
It is that competitive nature Manning hopes will help her to compete in the 2020 Tokyo Olympic Games.
“It’s a big goal, and everyone should have a goal that they strive towards. Knowing that this is a real possibility for me is amazing, and it makes me want it that much more.”
There to keep her on the right track is coach Healey and her teammates. Manning described feeling like a misfit when she first started swimming with the club three years ago, but it didn’t take long for her to become part of the team.
“I feel normal around them. We are like a giant family, and the support I get from them is incredible.”
Manning is quick to thank her past and present coaches, in particular Healey who has helped her with the mental aspect of the sport, something she says she struggled with in the past.
“The mental aspect of swimming is everything; if you don’t have a strong mental game you’ve already lost.”
For now, Manning will take on two or three long-course events, but no major ones.
After those events she will take a break from swimming to enjoy some much deserved rest. During the summer, she will work for three weeks as a camp leader at the Sunnybrae Bible Camp.
“In September, it will be back to the pool at full force, training six times a week in preparation for 2020.”