Everyone knew the chances for Rylan Wiens to make the Canadian Olympic team were good. But it wasn’t made official until after Thursday’s competition at the Olympic Trials in Toronto.
After the trials, Wiens is only a few weeks away from being an Olympian.
“I’ve been dreaming to say that for a long time and the last couple of years, it’s become a possibility,” he said.
“Now that I’ve finally made it, it’s a reality and it’s pretty cool to say I’m one of the very few Olympians.”
The 19-year-old member of the Saskatoon Diving club also achieves a first. He is now the first Saskatoon-based diver to qualify for the Olympics, showing the youngsters that you don’t have to be from or train out of Montreal.
“To put Saskatoon on the map and to someplace that is not Montreal on the map, it’s pretty cool. Just representing Pike Lake, and Saskatoon, Saskatchewan, the west of Canada all of that is awesome,” he said.
Wiens earned his ticket to Tokyo by finishing second in the men’s 10-metre final. First place went to his teammate Nathan Zsomber-Murray, who is a year younger at 18.
“We have a very good relationship despite being competitors,” Zsomber-Murray said.
“We both push each other, and I think we also really support each other. Like you saw at the end of the event. We hugged each other and said ‘good job.'”
“I just look forward to the future that me and him have on 10-metre together,” Wiens added.
“Hopefully we might start doing some synchro together next year so, we will see what is in store. But yeah, he is a really good friend, and a really good teammate also.”
The summer Olympics in Tokyo run from July 23 to Aug. 8.