Island Swimming's Rick Say honoured by Swimming Canada

Three time Olympic Swimmers Rick Say honoured

July, 30, 2010   from www.swimming.ca

VICTORIA – Swimming Canada honoured three time Olympian Rick Say of Salmon Arm and Olympian Brittany Reimer of Victoria in front of their peers tonight during the 2010 Summer National Championships in Victoria.

Say and Reimer have marked the past decade for Canadian swimming.

“Tonight, we honour two great swimmers that have made such a positive impact in our sport,” said Pierre Lafontaine, CEO and National Coach for Swimming Canada.

Rick Say is a 3-time Olympian competing in Sydney, Athens and Beijing. In Beijing, Say was part of the Men’s 4x200 free relay that swam to a new Canadian record (7:08.04) under the previous World Record mark. Say was also member of the 4x100 free relay that lowered the national mark to 3:12.26.

Many swim enthusiasts would say that Rick’s top performance was done in Athens, Say finishing 6th, next to Michael Phelps and Ian Thorpe in the 200 m freestyle event.

“I’m very lucky to have had the opportunity to train here in Victoria,” said Say. “There are so many people that have contributed to my swimming career, my coaches, my family, my teammates.“

“It’s a privilege for me to have coached Rick,” said Victoria Swimming Academy head coach Randy Bennett. “Rick was the guy you wanted on your team when going to battle.”

Say is quickly climbing the coaching ranks in Canada. He currently coaches at the Victoria Swimming Academy with Randy Bennett.