Full name Hilary Caldwell Club Pacific Sea Wolves Weight 61 kg National team Canada Name Hilary Caldwell Education University of Victoria | Sport Swimming Role Swimmer Siblings Katie Caldwell Strokes Backstroke Height 1.73 m | |
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Born March 13, 1991 (age 33) ( 1991-03-13 ) London, Ontario Similar People Ryan Cochrane, Martha McCabe, Katerine Savard, Randy Bennett, Sinead Russell | ||
Hilary Caldwell on confidence going into trials
Hilary Caldwell (born March 13, 1991) is a Canadian competition swimmer who trains in Victoria, British Columbia. She won a bronze medal in the 200 m backstroke at the 2016 Summer Olympics in Rio de Janeiro. Caldwell won a bronze medal in the same event at the 2013 World Aquatics Championships, as well as a bronze at the 2014 Commonwealth Games in the 200 back. She is the reigning Pan American champion, having won gold in the 200 m backstroke at the 2015 Pan American Games in Toronto.
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Career
She first started competitive swimming in South Surrey near White Rock, British Columbia.
At the 2012 Summer Olympics in London, she competed in the women's 200-metre backstroke, finishing in 18th place overall in the heats, failing to qualify for the semifinals. The next season at the 2013 World Aquatics Championships Caldwell swam to a surprise bronze medal in the 200-metre backstroke. She set and broke the national record for the 200-metre backstroke in each of the qualifying, semifinal, and final rounds in the process. This broke teammate Sinead Russell's record who finished seventh in the same event.
Caldwell had teamed up with noted West Coast coach Randy Bennett in Victoria during 2009, he also coached Canadian Olympic medalist Ryan Cochrane. This move was credited for her successful upturn and focus on the backstroke while being previously looked at as a competitor in the individual medley.
She continued to perform well under the tutelage of Bennett, Caldwell next swam to a bronze medal at the 2014 Commonwealth Games in her feature event, the 200 m backstroke. The next year, she followed that up with a gold medal at the 2015 Pan American Games in Toronto. The win was an emotional one has it came just months after the death of her esteemed coach, Bennett, who helped propel her to such heights.
For the 2016 Summer Olympics, Caldwell was named to Canada's Olympic team. In the 200 m metre backstroke event, Caldwell swam to a bronze medal. After the event she told CBC reporters that the previous year was hard and she wanted to make her new coach Ryan Mallette proud.