Freshmen swimmers Drew Matthews and Samantha Corea competed in the Canadian Olympic and Paralympic Swimming trials March 27-April 1 at La Piscine Olympique de MontrCB)al in Quebec. Although neither swimmer was able to qualify for Team Canada, they both said they came away from the experience with positive outlooks.

“All I can do is learn from this experience and learn from the mistakes so that I can be better next year,” said Corea.

Both had impressive performances at the Sun Belt Conference Championships February 22-25. Corea tied an SBC and DU record with a gold-medal time of 53.73 in the 100 backstroke. At the qualifying trials, she swam the 100 backstroke, 100 butterfly and the 100 freestyle.

At the SBC championships, Matthews was on the three Pioneer gold-medal relay teams in addition to earning a silver medal in the 100 freestyle. She competed to qualify for Team Canada in the 2012 London Olympics in the 50, 100 and 200 freestyle and the 100 butterfly.

“It is very exciting knowing that you have a chance to make the team, but it is also very emotional and puts more pressure on you,” said Matthews.

Both swimmers reached the time standard when they were 14, so they have been eligible to compete in national meets since then. In addition to their seasonal competitions with the Pioneer swim team, Matthews and Corea have the Canadian nationals to prepare for each season. Since this year was an Olympic qualifying year, it was the swimmers’ main goal to reach the Olympic standard times.

“At the end of the meet, I can look back and say I gave it my all,” said Matthews. “Watching some kids make it that were around my age was a big eye-opener. It was an experience I will never forget for the rest of my life. It is even more exciting because I now have four more years to get prepared and ready to go for the next trials.”