The bright lights of the Canada Games sparkle even for national level swimmers used to the spotlight.
Foothills Stingray Finlay Knox capped off a prolific season in the pool at what he called the biggest event he’s gone to in capturing four medals and three personal best swims at the 2017 Canada Summer Games in Winnipeg.
“This entire season was all focused on the Canada Games.,” Knox said. “It was a lot of new experiences, especially with all the different sports it almost felt like a mini Olympic Games. I was very grateful to swim for Alberta and do as well as I did just showing that no matter where you’re from you can perform as well at a bigger stage.
“It was so much fun, the atmosphere there was nothing like I’ve ever seen before.”
That’s saying something for the 16-year-old.
The talented swimmer has enjoyed his best calendar year in the pool.
Knox established a pair of provincial records in the 200m and 400m individual medley in the winter and swam his way to two finals in his debut at the World Championship Trials in the spring.
The string of good fortune ended in the summer months when Knox sustained an injury — a fractured ankle — during a mishap on a trampoline two months prior to the Games.
The bad break didn’t hold him back as Knox competed at both the Alberta Summer Championships and the Speedo Far Westerns in California before descending upon the Keystone Province for the multi-sport extravaganza.
“I didn’t take any time off for the injury. My practices were modified so I wasn’t kicking at all and doing anything I could do get my ankle healthy again,” he said. “That was a huge setback, but I just tried to get myself mentally and physically prepared to train through it and not let the setback completely destroy my games.”
He didn’t look to be any worse for the wear.
Knox crushed his personal best with a time of 2:20.52 en route to the gold medal in the 200m breaststroke in Manitoba.
“In the morning I didn’t have a good swim and was down in lane seven,” he said. “I wasn’t expecting a win at all. Going into the race it was just have fun, swim my own race and don’t hold back.”
The Foothills Composite student added a pair of silver medals in the 100m breaststroke and 400m IM.
In the latter he took almost three seconds off by finishing in a time 4:32.86.
“This entire season I’ve struggled with that event,” he said. “My goal for that swim was to make sure I really worked the backstroke because that’s where I lose a lot of my time.
“Just to be able to get that figured out in my head and go for it at Canada Games and get a best time by three seconds meant a lot to me.”
In his last event Knox completed the medal trifecta with a bronze medal showing in the 200m IM.
He touched the wall in 2:06.34, just four one-hundredths of a second off second place, while establishing a new personal best by .04.
“I was fatigued from the previous days and just did everything I could leading up to my race to get my body better and drain all the lactic acid out,” Knox said. “Since it was my last individual race I just went for it and didn’t hold anything back.
“I died a bit in the freestyle, but at least I finished the race knowing I didn’t hold anything back.”
Knox and the Alberta swimming contingent played a major part in the province’s podium push.
Alberta finished fourth overall with 96 medals at the Canada Summer Games.
Now the Okotokian gets a brief respite — all of three weeks off before kicking off next season — to rest and reflect on a momentous campaign.
“It was a lot of hard training and just having as much fun as I can,” he said. “You can’t put too much stress on at this level and I tried to enjoy it the most I could. Swimming fast, training hard and putting a smile on my face.
“I’m excited to sit back, relax, give my body a break and let myself grow, have fun and not have to worry about swimming.”
