Kamloops swimmer Ryley McRae travels to Spain next week to compete in the Best Fest Open Water Swimming Championship (Image Credit: CFJC Today)

By Michael Beck

LOCAL SWIMMER

McRae of Kamloops set to dive into open waters to swim in international competition

May 17, 2019 | 5:38 PM

KAMLOOPS — Ryley McRae is hoping to beat the surge at the Best Fest Open Water Swimming Championship in Mallorca, Spain next week.

McRae made Team Canada following a strong performance at the Canadian swimming trials. Swimming in the open water is a stark contrast to swimming in the pool.

“I say one of the biggest changes is probably the waves that you have to face, especially when you have boats right beside you the waves can be really bad,” said McRae. “I’d say the main difference in the race is probably right at the beginning of the race as opposed to diving off the blocks, they have you starting about waste deep in the water and a gun or buzzer will go off and all 100 or 200 people will go at once and it’s like a brawl right at the beginning it gets pretty hectic.”

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But his path to the championships was not an easy one. After being ranked the 187th best male swimmer in the world in 2017, he would get sick in 2018 which forced him to miss out on some competitions, a major setback for the rising star.

McRae would battle back and is hopeful to make a splash against the world’s best.

“Yeah it was definitely tough, there were some days where I definitely didn’t want to come to the pool. I actually got sick with mono in February of last year and that was pretty tough on me,” noted McRae.

McRae’s work ethic has put him back into position to compete at a high level, and his dedication is something that his coaches rave about. “He’s good, he’s talented, he’s got a good feel for the water,” said McRae’s coach Brad Dalke. “But mentally he really likes to do this kind of stuff. He loves that repetition; he loves to get in and work on his stroke count and just be able to bang it off in that rather in his swim.”

The respect goes both ways for McRae as he turned down a scholarship to the university of Pennsylvania to stay at home and work with the coaches, he believes in.

But don’t ask McRae about his chance at representing Canada at the Olympics one day, as the only swim he’s worried about is the next one.

“I want to just, focus on how I’m swimming right now, and if my swimming gets to that point then I can really start focusing on it and make it one of my pure goals.”

McRae could possibly compete in four events while he’s in Spain. The longest being the 10-kilometre open water race.