Following on the heels of getting word this week that she will be invested into the Order of Newfoundland and Labrador, Katarina Roxon got more good news on Thursday.
That’s when she learned she will be representing Canada at the 2018 Commonwealth Games as a Para-swimmer.
“I’m happy and relieved now that I’m on the team,” she said.
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The relief came because Roxon said that things didn’t go as planned during trials this past summer, so she wasn’t sure what the outcome would be.
Swimming Canada announced it was nominating 11 Para-swimmers to its 2018 Commonwealth Games team, which will be the largest integrated team in Canadian swimming history.
The group, heading to Gold Coast, Australia, in April, includes eight members of the Rio 2016 Paralympic Games team. Quadruple world-record holder Aurélie Rivard, who won four medals in Rio and was named Canada’s flag bearer, headlines the team, which also includes Rio medalists Roxon and Tess Routliffe.
This is Roxon’s 13th year on the national team and she is excited to go to Australia for the first time in her life, where she said she has a number of friends who she will try to see and who are working on getting tickets for her events.
She leaves for Australia on March 20 and competition takes place April 4-15, with her leaving on the following day to return home.
Roxon will be competing in the 200M Individual Medley, the 100M Freestyle and the 100M Breast Stroke.
During her first Commonwealth competition in 2010, she was part of a four-person team; then part of a three-person team in 2014; and is really excited to be part of an 11-person team this time around.
Roxon said during her first day of competition in Australia, on April 5, she will be celebrating turning 25. She said most of her birthdays have been outside the country.
“I’ll be giving it my all,” Roxon said of the competition.
