Medicine Hat's Rowynn Biffart will be racing against Canada's top young swimmers qualifying for the 2022 Canadian Junior Swimming Championships (Photo courtesy Ross Lavigne)

By Scott Roblin

Chasing Gold

Medicine Hat swimmer Biffart heading to national junior championships

Jul 21, 2022 | 10:48 AM

MEDICINE HAT, AB – Since the 2016 Rio Olympics, Canadian swimmers have become household names across the country.

From humble beginnings with the Medicine Hat Waves program, local swimmer Rowynn Biffart has dreams of following in the footsteps of her idol Penny Oleksiak.

“I actually have a picture of Penny in my room,” said Biffart. “I love, love Penny.”

The 13-year-old Biffart has already knocked down her first door towards reaching that goal.

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It came at a swim meet this month in Edmonton, one where she looked to the lanes beside and saw just open water.

“I was winning the race and I was thinking, ‘Okay, I just need to keep going because I know that the girls beside me, I’m beating them right now and they have faster times than me,’” said Biffart. “So, when I touched the wall and turned around I was like, ‘Fingers crossed, I hope I got it.’”

It turns out, she did just that.

Biffart captured the win with a time that qualified her for the upcoming 2022 Canadian Junior Swimming Championships in both the 100 metre and 200 metre breaststroke events.

“I know how hard that girl works every day and she’s had those goals for the last few months,” said Medicine Hat Waves co-head coach Blair Hughes. “For her to actually achieve that was pretty fantastic.”

Competing with the Waves program for the last three or so years after moving from British Columbia, it’s been a big boost towards her goal of facing off against some of Canada’s most promising swimmers.

“It’s going to be intense and it’s cool to see that know I’m actually kind of like one of them,” said Biffart.

Helping the Biffarts get to Montreal is a Go Fund Me page started by a fellow swim family this month, which has raised over $2,600 at the time of this article.

“It’s going to be intense and it’s cool to see that know I’m actually kind of like one of them,” said Biffart.

Hughes said it’s a testament to what the local swim community can do to help elevate one of their own.

“To have those kids be able to have those opportunities isn’t always easy financially,” said Hughes. “But, to have such great support in Medicine Hat, and I know that Medicine Hat is quite known for that, to be able to rally behind her to help her family out for payment to go is awesome.”

Rowynn woke up to quite the surprise on Thursday morning following the airing of her story, as Penny Oleksiak herself provided a $1,000 donation to the Go Fund Me and a message of support saying ‘my pups and I are cheering you on this summer’ and ‘keep training hard and can’t wait to see you standing on that podium.’

The 2022 Canadian senior championships will run concurrently with the juniors in Montreal, meaning Rowynn might get a glimpse of Oleksiak and her idols in the pool.

Surely providing a spark of inspiration that those same lofty heights are possible for a teen racing out of Medicine Hat.

“Yeah I think so, I hope so,” said Biffart. “That is a future goal for me to go to the Olympics, that would be so cool.”