By Martin Cleary
Swimmer Jordyn Richardson will definitely look back on December 2025 as a month to remember.
“It was very busy, but very fun,” she said.
As she practiced with her St. Joseph High School swim team, she had to skip the National Capital Secondary School Athletic Association championships on Dec. 10 because it clashed with her departure for the Ontario Junior International meet in Toronto.
(Even if she had qualified to swim for the Jaguars at the OFSAA swimming championships March 3-4 in Windsor, she still would have had to miss it due to it overlapping with the Ontario age-group championships in Markham from March 5-8.)
The 14-year-old swimmer from Ottawa Y Olympians raced against competitors aged up to 18 at the Ontario Junior International from Dec. 10-14 instead of sticking to her usual 13-14-year-old category. However, she gained invaluable experience.
While she didn’t bring home any medals, she made it into six A finals across seven events, was the youngest finalist based on birth year in all seven races, and achieved a best finish of seventh in the 100-metre freestyle with a time of 56.23 seconds.
The day after provincials, Richardson was off again as part of an eight-member Team Ontario heading to Sagamihara, Japan, for an eight-day Japanese Cultural Exchange Tour that included a significant short-course swim competition at its conclusion.
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The tour served as a training opportunity for swimmers and was part of Swim Ontario’s Domestic Podium Development project. The four female and four male athletes were chosen based on their World Class On-Track times during long-course competitions between January 1 and August 31 in 2025.
“I got an email in September or October saying I had been invited to a cultural camp in Japan,” Richardson shared. “I was very, very, very happy and very surprised as well. I was super excited since I hadn’t been to Japan before. It would be my first international meet outside Canada.”
Richardson saved her best performance for last this year. Yet, given her busy schedule leading up to it and dealing with jet lag from a long flight across the globe, she didn’t expect her final results.
She shone at the 27th Kanagawa Yume Kokutai Memorial meet, which drew over 2,600 swimmers by winning the high-point trophy as the top athlete in the girls’ 13-14 category.
Coached by Olympian Norma Perez, Richardson participated in six individual preliminary races where she qualified for six individual A finals and also competed in two relay finals over two days. She recorded top times in four finals – specifically for both freestyles (50m and 100m) as well as both backstrokes (50m and 100m) – plus finished third in the 200-metre breaststroke.
“I didn’t know I was competing for it (the high-point trophy),” Richardson noted during a phone interview this week. “When I got it, I was really happy.”
“I felt good about how I swam considering it wasn’t ideal conditions after flying halfway around the world.”
Jordyn Richardson (right) and teammates at Mount Fuji. Photo provided
The lengthy swimming sessions kept Team Ontario members busy at the pool for about twelve hours each day. During breaks from racing, Richardson took advantage of her time by napping or enjoying walks outside.
This marks her second time winning a high-point trophy; her first win came at the Ontario age-group championships held last year. She also set personal-best records in several events including the 50-metre freestyle, the 100-metre butterfly, and also during her breaststroke race while competing at Sagamihara.
“I didn’t expect that at all,” she added with surprise. “I felt really tired not only because of jet lag but also because I had competed just before.”
Jordyn Richardson (right) and Gavin Schinkelshoek. Photo provided
Joining Richardson is Gavin Schinkelshoek from Pain Court who received his own high-point trophy as he emerged as top swimmer among boys aged fifteen to sixteen years old. Both swimmers received trophies along with cartons of eggs-symbols of life and promise found within Sagamihara located near Tokyo’s southwest region.
Together they formed half of two relay teams that won gold medals during mixed events like both freestyles (4×100 metres) alongside medleys (4×100 metres) throughout Canada Summer Games held earlier this year where they were accompanied by additional wins including silver within another relay event (4×100 metres freestyle) while securing bronze individually via their sprinting efforts during fifty-metres freestyle competition too!
P. S.: If you’re wondering about those meals:While typical experiences may resonate familiar amongst racers; exploring Japanese culture turned out entirely new![Tasty Tidbits:] She stayed with one local family trying unique dishes calling them “cool!”
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