Swim Manitoba hosted its first ever Para Swimming Development Camp last weekend at Bonivital Pool and Pan Am Pool.  The camp was attended by 8 swimmers.  Cole Magnusson, Robyn Sliva, Shelby Newkirk, Kimberly Palmer and Gabrielle Lindsay-Gossen were all attending their first Swim Manitoba development camp, while Tanner Price, Cameron MacDonald, and Kate Robertson brought their Canada Games and Western games experience to the camp, as returning Team Manitoba members.

The special guest coaches for the camp were, SNC Para Team coach, Mike Edey from the Surrey Knights Swim Club, in BC and Janet Dunn, the SNC Para Swim Program Development Manager. The camp was held over two and a half days, with a special focus on skill development and nutrition education. 

Also included in the weekend’s activities were two very special guest talks.  The first, by veteran Canada Games and Team Manitoba member, Cameron MacDonald, whose essential message was to “keep positive and believe that anything is possible if you work for it.”   The second, was by 2004 Paralympian and current National Team member, Rhea Schmidt.  Rhea had a few inspirational stories and interesting trinkets from the 2004 Athens Paralympics and a simple message of, “accentuating your abilities while never using your disabilities as an excuse”.

The highlight of the camp for many was the pizza and bowling party on Saturday night, at Academy Lanes.