Nanaimo's Tayden De Pol lines up at his most recent competitive meet, Olympic trials in 2019 ahead of the-then scheduled Games in 2020. (submitted photo/Noreen De Pol)

By Alex Rawnsley

GOING FOR GOLD

Local swimmer reaching for Tokyo Olympic berth

Jun 18, 2021 | 5:19 PM

NANAIMO — Tayden De Pol won’t see the finish line coming as he looks to earn a trip to Tokyo in July.

The Nanaimo swimmer, a former member of the Riptides swim team and current UBC Thunderbird, will take his position in the lineup at the Canadian Olympic trials in Toronto from Saturday, June 19 to Wednesday, June 23.

A combined two spots on Team Canada are available in the 100 and 200 metre backstroke. He’ll go into the meet unsure of how he stacks up against the competition.

“I haven’t raced in so long, so I don’t have a great idea where I’m at. I did a lot of technical work this year on my backstroke so I’m hoping for some pretty good results.”

De Pol’s times from two years ago, his last competitive meet, have him placing 7th in the 100 metre and 10th in the 200 metre, but a lot has changed.

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The focus for De Pol will be swimming his own race and not focusing too much on others in the pool.

“You kind of have to build into the first 50 metres so you can do well in the second. If I don’t do that, I’ll feel it in the last 25 metres of the race, the lactate will start to build up pretty bad so as long as I stay calm in the first 50, over spend and go to hard I should be right.”

The longer race involves a little more strategy, with De Pol saying “it’s a game” deciding when to kick a race into high gear.

Amid pandemic shutdowns, De Pol returned to train with his former Riptides coach Scott Pool to fine tune his preparation for the trials.

The trials will be live streamed through the CBC website.

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alex.rawnsley@pattisonmedia.com

On Twitter: @alexrawnsley