Story by Jordan Spurgeon
The next generation of Canadian Olympic water polo stars could be right here in Arizona, playing at Arizona State University.
Blaire McDowell and Allison Cameron were selected to the NextGen Program for Team Canada, to train with 19 other Olympic hopefuls in the pipeline and the current senior squad for the remainder of 2020. The training is taking place at the National Training Center in Montreal, Canada.
“I was excited because it’s cool that they’re already starting to focus on the 2024 Olympics,” McDowell said. “I was surprised that they’re starting things up.”
With the 2020 Olympics in Tokyo being pushed back to 2021 due to COVID-19, Team Canada decided they wanted to get their young talent ready a year earlier than scheduled to ensure they have access to training and extra knowledge from their current roster.
McDowell and Cameron aren’t strangers to national teams north of the border. McDowell was the U19 MVP at the 2019 Canadian Nationals and played in numerous other events with Team Canada. Cameron won a bronze medal as one of the captains on the 2017 National Team at the Youth Women’s Pan-American Championships in Lima, Peru.
Cameron has been in Montreal since the NextGen program started on September 21. After a long offseason full of training in random places, she decided to take all her classes online in order to get reps with Team Canada.
“I was swimming in lakes that are disgusting,” said Cameron with a laugh. “But now I’m back in the pool, and with online classes, I’m able to devote so much time to developing as an athlete.”
McDowell opted to stay at ASU for the rest of the semester because she’s a leader on the team and wants to continue pushing them forward. It wasn’t an easy decision, but she believes it’s what is best for her and the team.
“We are already a team here and we’re all training for one goal together, which is to win a championship in 2021,” McDowell said. “In Montreal, the training would be about learning the system and working towards a longer-term goal, which is also amazing and important, but I can wait a little longer for that opportunity.”
McDowell, a sophomore last season, finished with 14 goals and 29 points while battling a labrum injury. While a shortened season was disappointing, she said it was good to let her body heal and rest in order to be even better moving forward.
Cameron came into her own as a freshman last season, finishing with 17 goals and 30 points. As an attacker, she focused on being aggressive on offense, while also learning new positions.
