Nova Scotia Latin for New Scotland is a Province located on Canada’s Southeastern Coast. It is the most populous Province in Atlantic Canada with a population of one million. Nova Scotia is Canada’s second smallest Province in geographic size with an area of 55,284 km².
Nova Scotia's economy is traditionally largely resource-based, but has diversified since the middle of the 20th century. Industries such as fishing, mining, forestry and agriculture remain very import and have been joined by tourism, technology, film, music and finance.
Despite the small population of the Province, Nova Scotia has had tremendous success with swimming over the last century.
Halifax’s prominent private club, the Waegwoltic Club played host to Swimming Canada’s National Championships in 1911, 1913 and 1921. Halifax did not see another National event until 1968 when Centennial Pool played host to the Canada Summer Games, followed by the 1997 Winter Nationals at Dalplex Pool.

History of Swimming Nova Scotia

1911 was the first National Championship to be held in the Maritimes in a 50 yard outdoor pool on August 11th. This event featured Montreal swimmer S.H. Gooday winning all of the backstroke and breaststroke events. Gooday went on to become the national title holder in three breaststroke events and the 100 yard backstroke as listed in the records.
1913 the National Outdoor Championships in swimming were held once again at the scenic Waegwoltic Club. The events held on August 9th saw American swimmer R.M. Ritter winning the 100 yard Freestyle and Gooday earning a new Canadian record in the 220 yard breaststroke.
The Canadian Amateur Swimming Association once again hosted the Canadian National Swimming Championships in August 1921 at the Waegwoltic Club. This fine club had been host to many championships and had gained an excellent reputation as a great host to many events, even though it was a salt-water open area. The races were held in a sectioned-off area in front of the club grounds. At this event there was a newcomer in the Canadian record books, Clayton Bourne who won the 50 yard freestyle. Bourne also won the 100 yard freestyle, and coming in a close second was Halifax swimmer B. Marshall.

Mid Years:
Through the 50’s and 60’ the Halifax Y Neptune’s dominated swimming in Nova Scotia sending many swimmers to the Canadian Nationals annually. In 1962, the Halifax Neptune’s swept the Nova Scotia Outdoor Age Group Championships beating out cross harbor rivals Shearwater; 12 teams participated from across the Province including swimmers from Yarmouth, Greenwood and Hantsport.
The Neptunes continued to dominate swimming through the 60’s capturing top honors during annual Natal day competitions held at the Waegwoltic Club. Kevin Ross captured gold at Halifax final 10km harbor swim which started in the Bedford Basin and ended at the Dingle in the Halifax Arm.

In May 1968, Centennial Pool was constructed by the City of Halifax in co-operation with the Province of Nova Scotia and the Federal Government through their Centennial grants. The pool is of Olympic competition length- accommodating six lanes of competitive swimming, and has seating for 520 spectators. Special attention was given to lighting, at the time, not only for live telecasts but to give maximum spectator comfort. This facility was the site of the first Canadian Summer Games in 1969.
The Canadian Amateur Swimming Association- Nova Scotia section moved into its first permanent home with their first Executive Director, Ken Brown in the Sport Nova Scotia offices in Halifax.
Coach Nigel Kemp arrived from England and joined the Trojans in 1972 where Halifax continued their winning streak. Youngster Nancy Garapick made the record books on several occasions and was known as Nova Scotia’s aquatic ambassador. Nancy set the world record at age 13 in Brantford, Ontario in the 200m Backstroke in April 1975. She went on to capture two Olympic bronze medals in 1976 and represented Canada at the Pan-American and Commonwealth Games and numerous world championships. Nancy was inducted into the Canadian Sport Hall of Fame in November 2008.

In 1976, young Halifax swimmer Brenda Perks was named Canada’s flag bearer at the 1976 Summer Olympic Games in Montreal, where both she and Nancy Garapick represented Canada. During this time, Brenda’s mother Betty Perks became the second Executive Director for the Canadian Amateur Swimming Association- Nova Scotia Section.

The Acadia Axeman Women’s Swim Team captured their first of two National University titles in 1977 during their most successful season. The women’s team sent 12 swimmers to the CI-CWIAU National Championships and the men sent seven. That season the women’s team established 20 new conference records and three national. The following season in 1978 the women’s team captured another National conference title. Coach Jack Scholz was chosen Canadian Swim Coach of the Year for his efforts.

1980’s the Dartmouth Crusaders started having an impact on the National scene with butterflier Marie Moore earning a spot on the Canadian Olympic team in 1984. At this time Marie was a multiple National record holder in the 100m and 200m butterfly and first made a National team in 1983 where she represented Canada in Paris. 1981, Dartmouth’s Andrew Cole won a gold medal the Canada Games in the 200m Breaststroke and continued to make his move on the National scene by earning a spot on the 1984 Pan Pacific Championship team in the breaststroke events.

In the 1990’s the Halifax Trojan Aquatic Club was back in the National scene with swimmers Iona Allen and Jason Lukeman (of Port Hawkesbury). Iona earned a spot on the World University Games team in 1993 and was a multiple event winner at the 1993 Canada Summer Games in Kamloops winning gold in the 100m Fly, 200m & 400m IM and silver in the 200m Fly. Jason was a multiple event medalist at the 1993 Canada Games.

For much of the last two decades Andrew Haley has been one of Nova Scotia's top athletes. Andrew began his swimming career in North Sydney in 1989 before moving to Dartmouth in 1990 to swim with the Crusaders. Prior to starting his Bachelor of Commerce degree at Dalhousie University, Andrew won a surprise Bronze medal in the 400 free at the 1992 Paralympics in Barcelona, Spain. Many other impressive results followed including three bronze medals at World Championships in 1994 and a Commonwealth Games gold medal. For his efforts Nova Scotia voted Andrew male athlete of the year 1994-1995. In 1998, Andrew became World Champion (Christchurch, New Zealand) in the 100 metre butterfly and defended that title in 2002 at the next World Championships in Argentina. In 2000 at the Sydney Paralympics Andrew's 4x100 medley relay team won the Gold medal and set a world record. Andrew now lives in Toronto and works for the Blue Jays and gets back to the Halifax area to visit family and friends whenever time permits in his swimming/work schedule. Andrew credits his early success to many coaches in Nova Scotia and to the support of friends and family.

In the early 2000’s, Antigonish native swimmer Chelsey Gotell made her mark on the International circuit. In 2004, Gotell represented Canada at the Paralympic Games, and won a gold medal in the 100 backstroke and 3 bronze medals in the 50 and 100 freestyle and 200 individual medley. Chelsey also competed at the 2006 Commonwealth Games in Melbourne Australia and the 2006 IPC Swimming World Championships in Durban, South Africa. She also competed at the 2007 Para Pan American Games in Rio de Janeiro where she earned two gold medals, two silver medals and a bronze medal. Her most recent accomplishment is winning two gold medals this summer at the 2008 Beijing Paralympic Games in the 100m Backstroke and 200m IM where she also earned two new World records.
Chelsey’s younger brother Devin, also of the Antigonish Aquanauts made his mark on the International scene by earning himself a spot at the 2008 Beijing Paralympic Games; his first Paralympic Games. Devin has also represented Canada in South Africa at the 2006 IPC Swimming World Championships and in Rio de Janeiro at the 2007 Para Pan American Games where he earned multiple medals.
On the able-bodied side Halifax swimmers David Sharpe and Olivia Feschuk have been making their mark on the National scene. In 2007, David Sharpe was named to Canada’s National Junior ID Team and has participated in the National stroke camps. David holds over forty Nova Scotia Provincial records, the highest among any swimmer in the Province. Olivia Feschuk, also of the Halifax Trojans was named to Canada’s North American Challenge Cup Youth/Junior Team, where she earned a bronze medal in the 100m Butterfly and was a member of Canada’s gold medal relay team.