Beacher Emma Kinsella was one of around 4,000 young athletes who travelled to the North American Indigenous Games in Regina in late July. She was invited to swim for Team Ontario, which won the swimming competition.
PHOTO: Prairie Magic Photography
She won six medals at the event, two as part of relay teams, and four individual races, including silver in the 200m individual medley and 50m backstroke, and bronze in 100m backstroke and 100m butterfly. Her races were in the U19 division.
Kinsella, born in Whitehorse, YK, is of Carcross/Tagish heritage. She was adopted by her Beach parents at birth. She began swimming competitively in Grade 4 at St. Denis Catholic Elementary School. That team led her to the CREST swimming club, and she has been coached there by Fred Arzaga since. The club welcomed her back this year after her first year of university at Dalhousie in Halifax, coaching her through the competition in Regina.
She has also coached many young local swimmers through the CREST Learn2Race program, as a volunteer coach of the Voice Intermediate School swim team (she attended Voice for Grade 7 and 8) and as a summer camp counsellor.
While back problems forced her to drop out of the Dalhousie swim team in her first year, she’s been training hard and keeping close watch on her health, and Kinsella hopes to swim for either the university or a Halifax club in the coming year.
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