Aly Van Wyck-Smart

Back in 2017, Aly Van Wyck-Smart said her goal was to compete at the 2024 Paralympic Games in Paris. Her timeline has been moved up a few years as she will be making her Paralympic debut at the Tokyo Games in 2021. 

Her performance at the 2019 World Para Swimming Championships, at age 16, proved she was a strong competitor on the international scene. At the worlds in London, Wyck-Smart won a silver medal in the S2 100-m backstroke and a bronze in the 50-m backstroke. She also broke the Canadian and Americas records in those events.

Just prior to worlds, at the 2019 Canadian Swimming Trials, she received a Best Swim award for the best performance by a female Para swimmer at the event, after setting a new world record in the SM2 150m individual medley. 

Her breakout international competition was the 2018 Cerebral Palsy International Sport & Recreation Association (CPISRA) World Games in Sant Cugat, Spain. She won four gold medals and set three personal best times, three Canadian marks (200-m freestyle S2, 100-m backstroke S2, 50-m backstroke S2) and an Americas record (100-m backstroke S2).