Ever since Ali Diehl first dipped her toes in the waters of competitive swimming, all she has done is excel.
The 16-year-old Diehl has been a member of the Prince Albert Sharks Swim Club since the age of seven and has qualified for several national meets and has medaled nationally on several occasions.
Diehl says one of the major reasons she enjoys spending so much time in the pool is the camaraderie she feels with her teammates.
“All the people that I swim with, they become a little family (with) how close you are and that’s a big part of that makes me love swimming even more. The community I’m around all the time and just the feeling of doing your best and trying your best and you get what you work for.”
Diehl’s teammates have had a front row seat to some impressive performances this season. Diehl set a new Canadian Swimming Record in the 50-metre breaststroke in the SB9 category with a time of 37.20 seconds at the Prairie Winter International 2 meet in Winnipeg back on Dec. 5, 2024.
She set another record in the 200-metre breaststroke, also in the SB9 category with a time of 2:59.90 on Feb. 2, 2025.
Diehl says she was thrilled when she was able to put her name in the record books.
“I had broken the 50 meter breaststroke Canadian record the first time in December and that was just an unreal feeling. I wouldn’t have imagined being able to break the same swim the next month. I went into this swim meet thinking my coach is a little crazy thinking I could beat two more Canadian records and I did end up doing it. It was just such an unreal feeling and realization that I can do what you put your mind to.”
According to the Canadian Paralympic Committee, there are fourteen classes in paralympic swimming. Classes 1-10 are for swimmers with a physical disability. The higher the number, the less involved a disability is to the swimmer. Classes 11-13 are for swimmers with a visual impairment while Class 14 is for swimmers with intellectual disabilities. Swimmers may be in different classes for different strokes depending on their disability. The ‘SB’ prefix indicates that classification is for breaststroke.
Diehl is a below the elbow amputee and is missing her lower left arm, wrist and hand. She was awarded with the 2024 Terry Fox Award by the city of Prince Albert which is presented annually to a Prince Albert resident who emulates the traits and inspiration of Terry Fox.
Diehl competes in other styles of swimming, but says breaststroke has always been her best.
“I think it’s the most that I work on other than freestyle but I think everyone has their certain strokes that they’re good at. I guess mine was just breaststroke and I honestly love this stroke so much. I can’t imagine another stroke that would be the same”
While Diehl still has several years of high school left, she says she wants to eventually swim at some of the sport’s biggest events.
“Right now I am training for the Los Angeles 2028 Olympics and my plan is to swim in university and swim with the university team if I’m lucky enough to even get a scholarship for that. It’s just I want to keep on doing what I love and making more records I guess.”
sports@paherald.sk.ca
