Making a splash in Denmark

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This article was published 15/02/2019 (2651 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

A Charleswood swimmer is making waves on the international stage following a recent swim meet in Denmark. 

Mia West, 12, is a member of the St. James Seals Swim Club and, earlier this month, she took part in a national competition with the Esbjerg Swim Club.

Mia’s dad, Bo, is Danish and she was allowed to compete thanks to her dual citizenship. 

“My dad used to swim there and his old coach still coaches the team, (so) he wanted me to come and swim on the relay team,” Mia explained. “They had three pretty good people for the IM (individual medley) relay so they needed one more person because they wanted to win it.”

It seems the Esbjerg team brought in a secret weapon, because not only did they win gold in the relay with Mia swimming freestyle, she also brought home hardware in six other categories. 

By the end of the two-day meet, Mia had two gold medals in 100-metre butterfly and freestyle; three silver medals in 200-metre fly, 400-metre IM, and 100-metre backstroke; and a high points trophy for butterfly. 

Her abilities in the pool might have something to do with her family background.

“We’re a family of swimmers,” said Mia’s mom Riley.

Riley (nee Mants) is a former Manta Swim Club member who went on to compete with Team Canada in the 1996 summer Olympics. Bo was a member of the Danish national swim team and swam in the European championships several times. The couple met during university in the United States. 

“We both went to Arizona State and that’s where we met,” Bo said “We were both on the swim team there.”

Despite their backgrounds, Riley and Bo wanted to introduce their three kids to the sport incrementally — Mia’s younger siblings also swim with the St. James Seals. 

“They all had to learn how to swim, so whether they liked it our not it was sort of up to them if they wanted to continue with it,” Bo said. 

“We believe in balance in our family, and being able to be involved in school and school sports and be a well-rounded athlete, not just a swimmer,” Riley added. 

In addition to swimming six days a week, Mia practises guitar and plays volleyball and is on the track and field team at River West Park School. 

The Wests visit Denmark regularly to see Bo’s family but this was the first time a swim meet was on the itinerary. 

“It was her first meet there so she wasn’t in the rankings for kids… they didn’t see her coming at all,” said Bo, adding that it was exciting to watch his daughter compete for his former swim team in his home country. 

“It was pretty cool, thinking back on how I did those meets and then watching Mia do it.”

For Mia, swimming in a different country came with a few quirks. 

“I’m thankful that I got to go there and just to swim in a different country, it was kind of weird because the starter spoke a different language,” she said. 

English also wasn’t the first language for most of her teammates, but they still found a way to communicate with one another. 

“We all cheered for each other and the cheering is always kind of the same thing,” she said. “They whole team was so nice.”

Mia turns 13 this year and will be eligible to compete at the Canadian Junior championships for the first time this July. She’s also hoping to make the Manitoba team for the Western Canada Summer Games in August. 

“She’s got all the talent in the world and we try to go nice and slow and let her still enjoy things as she’s doing it,” Seals head coach Ian Grunewald said. “I think she’s got a long and fast career ahead of her in swimming, so we’re just excited for her to see what she can do.”