Saskatoon para-swimmer sets 3 Canadian records

A Saskatoon para-swimmer smashed three national records last weekend at a swim meet in the bridge city.

“When I touched the wall and looked at my time I knew I did it,” said 20-year-old Shelby Newkirk with the Saskatoon Lasers.

“I had to look three times just to make sure it really happened.”

Newkirk set records in the 50-meter backstroke with a time of 39.48, 200-metre breaststroke with a time of 3:49.82 , and 50-metre breaststroke with a time of 47.83.

“I had my parents up in the stands cheering, my coaches on the deck cheering, and it was just a really emotional moment.”

It was at the Saskatoon Goldfins Invitational at the Shaw Centre on Nov. 18 to 20, 2016.

When Newkirk was 13-years-old her life changed when she was diagnosed with dystonia and as a result has no feeling in her right foot.

“I just fell in love with swimming right away and it’s really helped me with tough moments in my life,” she said.

“It was really hard to go through, I had to change so much in my life. I’ve had rough times, but I’ve also had a lot of great times.”

Her coach Eric Kramer said he’s really proud.

“I told her great job, but you still have a lot of work to do,” he said.

“She’s so passionate about swimming and what a great role model for everybody.”

Now she’s focusing on representing Canada at the 2020 Para Olympics in Toyko.

“I definitely have a lot of work to do, but I feel setting these records really helped my confidence.”

Saskatoon Lasers Para-swimmer Shelby Newkirk smashed a bunch of Canada para swimming records last weekend in #yxe pic.twitter.com/ZmoWyI9FAK

— JT Marshall (@jtmarshallCKOM) November 25, 2016