Former Olympian makes splash at children's camp The Daily Gleaner Mon Apr 23 2018 Page: B9 Byline: Aidan Cox As a child, Tera Van Beilen remembers how inspired she felt after meeting Canadian Olympic medallist Adam van Koeverden. Now, 25, the Youth Olympic Games gold medallist and former Olympic swimmer said she was happy to offer the same to children in Fredericton as she led a two-day training camp for members of the FAST swim club on the weekend. "Any sport you're in, you always look to the best [athletes] and admire the best, and try to strive toward that," Van Beilen said. "So, being here, I'm kind of giving some of my knowledge of what I've learned, but also hopefully trying to be inspirational to them, and it doesn't have to be in swimming, but teaching life skills like [having] goals and dedication and commitment," said Van Beilen, who travelled from her Toronto home for the camp. Van Beilen competed at the 2010 Youth Olympic Games in Singapore, where she won gold, silver and bronze medals. She went on to be part of Canada's national B team in 2011, before going on to compete in the 2012 Beijing Olympic Games as a member of Canada's A team. She's since won medals at Commonwealth and Pan American Games, and was a member of the University of British Columbia Thunderbirds swim team. Shortly after climbing out of the water at the Sir Max Aitken Pool, where the training camp was held, Van Beilen said it hurt her heart to know the city's only competitive-size pool was set to close in September. "Swimming was such an impactful sport for my life, and I think it really is the only sport that can save your life, in the way that if you were to jump into a pool and you didn't know how to swim, you'd die. ... So learning how to swim is beyond important." Wendy Sinclair, coach and president of FAST Swimming, said the camp was set up by Future Stars, an organization that sends athletes to Canadian cities to meet children and impart their experience through workshops and training sessions. Sinclair said Van Beilen's visit was the fourth year the swim club had an athlete visit a training camp. "People like Tera are the people the swimmers watch on TV, and they're the people that motivate and inspire them, and they're the people they look up to, so it's a privilege to have them here sharing their expertise," Sinclair said. Outside of practising their technique in the pool with Van Beilen, Sinclair said swimmers had a dryland training session and a classroom session where the former Olympian shared insight about her story and the mental dynamics of being a top-performing athlete.