Questions and Answers
with Caitlin Hodge
about her experience on the 2010 Junior Pan Pacific Team

Meet Report
October 2010

Q1 Where and when was the meet to take place?
The meet took place in Hawaii - at the Kihei Aquatic Center in Maui - from August 26 to 30, 2010

Q2 How many members were selected for the Jr. Pan Pac Team?
40 members were selected to be on the team: 20 girls and 20 boys.

Q3 What were you feeling when you got the news that you had been selected to the team?
I was so excited and relieved. I had had my eye on this team since the beginning of the year and I knew that my competition was going to be tough. I tried not to focus on it too much as Murray always tells us to focus on our times rather than the team. Having said that - it came down to my last race of the season at Senior Nationals in Victoria. I had to beat all the girls that didn’t make the Senior Pan Pacific team to make this Junior team.

Q4 Tell us about the ‘staging’ training experience that you had prior to departing for Hawaii.
Team Canada had a two week training camp held at UBC in Vancouver before leaving for Hawaii. The training experience was great. I really enjoyed training with other swimmers from all over Canada. I’d like to be part of that kind of team spirit again.

Q5 Talk a bit about the accommodations and the pool experience, such as temperature, the outdoor pool, etc.
All the teams participating at the Jr. Pan Pacs stayed at the same resort. It was a 5 star hotel and all the food was provided for the swimmers. The pool was nice and it was outdoors, but I was expecting something you would see at a senior level meet. This was more like a community pool.

Q6 Did you feel more anxious racing at this high profile meet or did you experience similar pre-race emotions?
I didn’t feel any more anxious racing at this meet than racing at a meet like Summer Nationals. I probably felt less anxious and more confident, because the two week training before that had been so enjoyable.

Q7 What is it like to be coached by a different coach and to be racing with the Canadian Team of swimmers?
It was a positive experience for me being coached by all the Team Canada coaches. You also get to hear and see their approach. Racing with Team Canada is great, because there is all this amazing energy before you race. We even had parents in the stands cheering us on. And of course having John Calnan there was great.

Q8 What races were you selected for and did you get to swim any additional races besides the ones you were selected for?
I qualified for the 400 Free and then was able to also race the 800 Free and the 10km Open Water.

Q9 And talk to us about Open Water racing. When and how did you develop an interest in Open Water racing? Was this the first time you raced in salt water?
Murray saw potential in me to swim this event and he really wanted me to try it. This was my first time racing in salt water and it was disgusting. I was very sick after the event for having swallowed the salt water.

Q10 What are some of the Open Water rules that are different than racing in a pool ?
Swimming Open Water is very different. First of all you have to think about keeping yourself hydrated. There are feeding stations every so often where you can stop and have a drink, but you can’t touch or hang onto the station or else you could be disqualified. There are all kinds of tricks you need to know for Open Water swimming that I was not prepared for. For example, it’s always a good thing to put Vaseline on your ankles, so that when one of the girls tries to grab you, you can slide away. Fortunately the other Canadian girls were great in telling me some of the things I needed to do.

Q11 Would you ever do a 10 km Open Water race again?
Uummm?! That was one of the hardest things I have ever done in my life. The other swimmers, especially the Australians, were very aggressive, and even though my goggles were taped to my cap - yes, taped - they still managed to rip them off. At one point I was in a sandwich. I was swimming on top of one girl and there was another girl swimming on top of me! I’d like to take a pass on ever swimming a 10km again, but I know Murray will want me to do one more.

Q12 What is the most important lesson that you have learned from this experience?
The most important lesson that I have learned from the 10 km is to sprint my turns. It also taught me to never give up, no matter how much it hurts. The best you can do is finish a gruelling race like that one. The most important lesson that I have learned from making an international team is that I would like to make another one. I had a fantastic time. Thank you to everyone for giving me the opportunity to make it this far.