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Sports Oakville Beaver SPORTS EDITOR: JON KUIPERIJ Phone 905-845-3824 (ext. 255) Fax 905-337-5567 email sports@oakvillebeaver.com · FRIDAY, FEBRUARY 2, 2007 27 Swimmer thrives in foreign water Zack Chetrat sets new personal bests at Australian Youth Olympic Festival By Jon Kuiperij BEAVER SPORTS EDITOR Swimming in foreign water seems to agree with Zack Chetrat. The 16-year-old got his first taste of international competition recently in Australia, participating in the Australian Youth Olympic Festival, and posted some of his best-ever times. Chetrat set new personal standards in the 100-metre and 200m butterfly events as well as trimming nine seconds off his previous-best time in the 400m individual medley. He also competed on a number of the Canadian relay teams, including the fifth-finishing 4x100m free relay squad. Chetrat admitted to feeling a bit of pressure to perform at the festival, which featured more than 1,600 athletes aged 13-19 representing each continent across 16 different Olympic sports, but seemed to thrive on it. "For sure, it was intimidating," said the White Oaks Secondary School student, a member of the Oakville Aquatic Club (OAK). "I was nervous because I'd never raced these people before. It was a really big meet, a nice pool and everything. What I tried to focus on was doing the best I could, going for my best time and keeping as good a technique as possible." Chetrat said he was satisfied with his showing at the festival, feeling he might have earned a medal in the 200m butterfly had he had a better start to the race. He finished fifth, out-touched at the wall by approximately half-a-second. Coach not surprised by Chetrat's performance OAK head coach Christy Fonseca was not surprised to see her star pupil perform well down under, following up on strong efforts at last year's junior provincials, age group nationals and Pan Pacific trials. "Zack's performances in Australia are a reflection of the consistent effort he puts into his training, as well as his love of racing," Fonseca said. "I always tell (our) swimmers that they must learn from every race -- that they must respect the fact that there is always something greater than the race itself. Zack instinctually learns something from every race that he can take with him to the next race. He has the ability to move forwards, not getting caught up in what place he came or whether he did or did not go a certain time." The festival is designed to provide future Olympic hopefuls with experience by emulating the Olympic atmosphere, and Chetrat noticed a few differences from the domestic meets he'd competed in before. "For every heat, there was a walk-on ceremony. They'd announce you by name and country," he said. "Then, as soon as the winner finished, they'd turn on music -- they don't normally do that here. And when winners went on the podium, they'd announce the gold medalist, raise the flags of the three countries (represented on the podium) and play the national anthem of the gold medalist." When he wasn't busy competing, Chetrat found time to visit Sydney's Manley Beach, try some tin pan Australian cookies ("the best cookies I've ever had," he said) and see kangaroos at an area zoo. Chetrat will now shift his focus towards the upcoming eastern Canadian championships, set for Feb. 15-18 in Montreal. The junior provincials will follow at the beginning of March, with the Pan Am trials slated for the end of next month. ASHLEY HUTCHESON / SPECIAL TO THE OAKVILLE BEAVER DOWN UNDER: Oakville Aquatic Club member Zack Chetrat recently participated in his first international swim competition, posting a couple fifth-place finishes and setting several new personal bests at the Australian Youth Olympic Festival. Toronto FC staff tutors OSC coaches Oakville Soccer Club (OSC) coaches had an opportunity to learn from some of the best in the business last weekend. The club hosted a three-hour coaching clinic at the Holiday Inn Select on Saturday, with Toronto FC head coach Mo Johnston, assistant coach Bob Gansler and manager Earl Cochrane discussing a variety of topics with the approximately 60 OSC coaches in attendance. Among the items discussed were the affiliation agreement between the Oakville Soccer Club and Toronto FC, information on the Major League Soccer (MLS) SuperDraft process, the MLS expansion draft. The Toronto FC representatives also talked about how the professional squad plans to shape its team, including determining a style of play, pre-season preparation for training camp, important factors to consider during pre-season and where priorities lie in pre-season action. OSC coaches, both from the rep and house league programs, also used the opportunity to ask Johnston and Gansler about coaching philosophies. Gansler, incidentally, was happy to see local resident and OSC development director Dino Lopex in attendance. Lopez played under Gansler with Milwaukee in the United Soccer League. The event was jointly organized by Toronto FC and the Oakville Soccer Club, and sponsored by Soccer World. Hyde, Semenets off to Mexico OSC players William Hyde and Alex Semenets also met with Johnston and Gansler, a day before the two 16year-olds departed for Mexico to compete in the Copas Chivas international tournament. The Copas Chivas, which will feature local Mexican clubs against teams from Canada, the United States, Paraguay and Japan, will likely be an important step in Canada's preparations for the FIFA Under-17 World Cup qualifications in April. In the qualifications, Canada will play in CONCACAF's five-team Group B tournament in Jamaica, where it will face Jamaica, Costa Rica, Trinidad & Tobago, and the United States. The Copas Chivas tournament begins tomorrow. CANLAN ICE SPORTS ­ OAKVILLE ASHL SPRING-SUMMER SEASON 2007 Men's & Women's Divisions Early Bird Registration Incentive! Season begins April 29th REGISTER TODAY 905-845-6989 www.icesports.com