Mia mighty for Manitoba

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This article was published 13/08/2019 (1998 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

As the Western Canada Summer Games reached its midway point Tuesday, there was little doubt Mia West had been one of Manitoba’s brightest stars in Swift Current, Sask.

The 13-year-old Winnipegger put the finishing touches on an amazing performance at the Games, finishing fourth in Tuesday’s female 1,500-metre open water swim at Saskatchewan Landing Provincial Park. 

It was Mia’s first attempt at an open water swim but she’s already a veteran presence in the pool, where she earned gold medals in 50-, 100- and 200-metre freestyle events, 200-metre butterfly and 200-metre individual medley.

She was also golden as a member of Manitoba’s 4×100 mixed freestyle relay and 4×100 female relay while adding silver medals in the 4×200 mixed relay and 4×200 female relay and a fifth-place finish in the 100-m breaststroke.

All told, she took home seven gold and two silver medals — the biggest haul of any swimmer in Swift Current — involving athletes in the 13- to 15-year-old age group.

“I was actually a little bit surprised with my achievements,” said Mia via telephone. “I was kinda going into this not expecting very much but it’s been exciting.”

Others expected these stellar results.

“One of the things that’s so delightful about Mia is how humble she is about her abilities, her talent as a swimmer, how hard she works and how deserving she is of these medals,” said Michelle Seidler, Mia’s coach with the St. James Seals.

“She says she was surprised but honestly, I wasn’t. I expected gold in all her races. She has a raw talent as a swimmer and it’s such a delight to coach her and to train her because she works hard and comes to practice really focused, always wanting to improve…

“She’s basically a dream athlete. Every swim coach hopes to coach someone like Mia in their lifetime.”

Mia, who will be entering Grade 8 this fall, comes from a family of swimmers.

Her father, Bo, and mother, Riley (nee Mants), swam competitively at Arizona State University and helped their daughter gain an early appreciation for the sport. Mia holds dual Canadian-Danish citizenship by virtue of her father’s heritage; Bo is originally from Denmark and represented his country on the international stage while Riley swam for Canada at the 1996 Olympics.

“Once I started I really loved it,” said Mia, who joined the Seals as a four-year-old. “They helped me through a lot. They know a lot about swimming.”

Mia said she enjoyed the team camaraderie and atmosphere at the Western Canada Games, which were her second big meet of the summer. Last month, she captured bronze medals in 100- and 200-metre freestyle and a silver in 200-metre individual medley at the junior nationals in Calgary.

“It’s really hard to pick a weakness for Mia,” said Seidler. “Her (100-metre breaststroke) race, in particular, might have been her weakest of the weekend. She went three seconds over her best time but in general, she’s sort of an all-round swimmer.”

Elsewhere at the Games: 

— Manitoba’s beach volleyball contingent had a sensational day with Manitoba Gold’s Val Gonzalez and Erika Vermette cruising to a 21-14, 21-8 win over Manitoba Black’s Brooklyn Olfert and Lexi Herrod in the female final. In the male final, Manitoba Black’s Isaiah Olfert and Justin Cross dispatched Alberta Blue 28-26, 21-8.

Meanwhile, Alberta Grey defeated Manitoba Gold’s Albert Francisco and Kalen Reyes 22-20, 21-14 for bronze in the male division.

— Manitoba’s female softball team rolled to the gold with an 8-1 triumph over Saskatchewan in the final.

— Manitoba earned bronze in female basketball, beating the Northwest Territories 71-46 while also claiming bronze in the male event with an 80-43 decision over the Territories.

mike.sawatzky@freepress.mb.ca

Twitter: @sawa14