Ryan Cochrane, Audrey Lacroix Earn Top Honors From Swimming Canada

TORONTO, Canada, November 30. IT was a night to remember for the 800 spectators and nominees of the Big Splash Awards Gala presented by CN held at the John Bassett theatre on Monday night.

Commonwealth Games Double gold medalist, Ryan Cochrane of Victoria, and silver medalist Audrey Lacroix were named Omega Swimmer of the Year 2010.

"It's a great honor for me to receive this award," said Cochrane. "I've had so much help across the border over the years and they all deserve of piece of this award."

Cochrane also recognized Brent Hayden and Stefan Hirniak's for their effort this year. "We had amazing swims from both Brent and Stefan, and they really inspired me to get to the top of the podium."

For Audrey Lacroix, this award capped off a season that hadn't started according to plan. "I wasn't having the best start to the year and the help of my teammates and coach really pushed me to overcome those obstacles and perform to the top of my abilities at the Commonwealth Games," said Lacroix.

Top honors were also presented to Randy Bennett of the Victoria Academy of Swimming and Benoit Lebrun of Montreal National Swim Centre as male and female coach of the year respectively.

The World's fastest 100m freestyle swimmer for 2010, Brent Hayden of Mission BC was the laureate for Race of the year award.

Para-swimming multiple World Record Holder and 3-time paralympian, Benoit Huot of Montreal and newcomer Summer Mortimer of Newmarket took the TAS Para-swimmers of the year while their coaches Pierre Lamy and Craig Mortimer were presented with the BLF coaches of the year award.

The open Water swimmer of the year was won by Richard Weinberger of Victoria, after a bronze medal performance at the 2010 Pan Pacific Championships this summer in the 10k event. His coach Ron Jacks was also presented with the Open Water Coach of the year award.

Special inaugural awards were also presented to Dave Johnson for Club Coach of the Year, Richard Pound was presented with the Impact Award and CBC's Steve Armitage received the Ted Reynolds Media Award.

The evening included inspiring presenters and great performances by Juno artist Shawn Desman and local Toronto singer songwriter, Jesse LeBelle and MC Trevor Boris.

The Swimming Canada Junior and Stroke awards were presented earlier during the Canada Cup event.

2010 Swimming Canada Junior Swimmers of the Year (18&Under)
Male: Jeremy Bagshaw, VASC
Female: Savannah King, UBCDS

2010 Swimming Canada Junior Coaches of the Year
Male Junior Coach of the Year: Neil Harvey, VASC
Female Junior Coach of the Year: Tom Johnson, National Centre, Vancouver

2010 Swimming Canada Youth Swimmers of the Year (16&Under)
Male: Matthew Kwatyra, LAC
Female: Sinead Russell, DS

2010 Swimming Canada Youth Coaches of the Year
Male Youth Coach of the Year: Andrew Craven, LAC
Female Youth Coach of the Year: Erin Russell, DS

2010 Swimming Canada Sprint Freestyle Swimmers of the of the Year
Male: Brent Hayden, UBCDS, National Centre, Vancouver
Female: Victoria Poon, PPO, National Centre, Montreal

2010 Swimming Canada Distance Freestyle Swimmers of the of the Year
Male: Ryan Cochrane, VASC, Victoria Academy of Swimming
Female: Barbara Jardin, PPO, National Centre, Montreal

2010 Swimming Canada Backstroke Swimmers of the of the Year
Male: Charles Francis, PPO, National Centre, Montreal
Female: Julia Wilkinson, VASC, Victoria Academy of Swimming

2010 Swimming Canada Breaststroke Swimmers of the of the Year
Male: Scott Dickens, UBCDS, National Centre, Vancouver
Female: Annamay Pierse, UBCDS, National Centre, Vancouver

2010 Swimming Canada Butterfly Swimmers of the of the Year
Male: Stefan Hirniak, VASC, Victoria Academy of Swimming
Female: Audrey Lacroix, CAMO, National Centre, Montreal

2010 Swimming Canada IM Swimmers of the of the Year
Male: Brian Johns, UBCDS, National Centre, Vancouver
Female: Julia Wilkinson, VASC, Victoria Academy of Swimming

The above article is a press release submitted to Swimming World Magazine. It has been posted in its entirety without editing. Swimming World offers all outlets the chance to reach our audience by contacting us at Newsmaster@swimmingworldmagazine.com. However, Swimming World reserves the right to choose what material is posted.

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