STAY CONNECTED: Have the stories that matter most delivered every night to your email inbox. Subscribe to our daily local news wrap.
Catherine Minic walks out for the start of the 200m fly finals at the Olympic trials. Photo Credit; Grande Prairie Piranhas Swim Club
By Shane Clausing
minic returns from olympic trials

Minic returns to Grande Prairie after first Olympic trials

Jun 25, 2021 | 5:30 AM

Grande Prairie’s Catherine Minic has returned home following her inaugural trip to the Canadian Olympic swimming trials in Toronto this past week.

While there she participated in the 100 and 200 metre butterfly and the 200 and 400 metre individual medley.

Minic tells EverythingGP the Olympic trials experience was incredible.

“The experience was amazing. Especially making a final, that was super exciting.”

Minic’s best event at the trials was qualifying for the final of the 200-metre fly. She ended up swimming a time of 2:18.94 and finished in tenth place in the final event.

“The way they dressed up the pool and the way you walked out, and they called your name, that was super fun,” said Minic. “I had a lot of fun there and it was definitely an experience I won’t forget.”

She added the Olympic trial experience gave her an idea of what it’ll be like moving forward as she begins to participate in bigger events in the years to come.

“From that, I know how I need to prepare myself for big meets like that,” said Minic.

While she only made one final out of the four events she participated in, she says it was nice to actually swim against other people for the first time in over a year.

“That was a really big change. My coach was telling me ‘you’ll swim better when you’re in a race with people’ and I wasn’t sure. Then I come to that meet and I do a lot better because there’s people around me, there’s a race, there’s something to chase after, so I really enjoyed (racing) people again.”

While in Toronto, Minic added she felt a large amount of support from everyone back home.

“I loved it. It was so nice to open up my Instagram or my Snapchat and just have a bunch of people texting me and that parade I had was really sweet. It’s really heartwarming to have a bunch of people back home thinking about you and they want you to do well.”

The trials in Toronto were also the last event together for Minic and her coach Alex Dawson. She mentioned it was an emotional final swim meet for both of them in Toronto.

“That threatens to make me cry every time I think about it. I still have a whole month of practice with him, so that’s ok. It’s really upsetting because I’ve got a really amazing coach and such a good connection with him. It’s hard to imagine I’ll have a different coach now after six years with Alex.”

Minic has committed to attend the University of Indiana next year and will be a member of their swim team.

by Shane Clausing