CANALES' WORLD CHAMPIONSHIP BLOG

HAMILTON – The Mark S. Randall Head Coach of Swimming, Fernando J. Canales, has been asked to be the personal coach of three-time Olympic medalist Yannick Agnel of France during the upcoming World Championships in Barcelona, Spain.

Agnel burst onto the scene worldwide last year during the London Olympics, winning two gold medals, including the 200-meter freestyle, in which he broke the French record with a time of 1:43.14. He also took home gold in the 4 x 100-meter freestyle relay as he anchored the come-from-behind win. He closed a late deficit in the final 50 meters against American Ryan Lochte to win gold as he swam the best split of the race at 46.74 seconds. He also managed to win silver in the 4 x 200-meter freestyle relay as the anchor leg once again.

The Frenchman decided he needed a new training environment and joined Team USA Head Coach Bob Bowman at the world famous North Baltimore Aquatic Club in order to get ready for the 2016 Olympic Games in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. Bowman and Canales go back to their days at the University of Michigan; Canales worked with Bowman, who was the head coach with the Wolverines from 2004 to 2008 and led Michael Phelps to the greatest performance in Olympic history by winning 22 Olympic Medals. Bowman has entrusted Canales to coach Agnel during the World Championships.

The Federation Internationale de Natation (FINA) World Championships will take place from July 19 to August 4, 2013 in Barcelona, Spain.

Canales will be giving fans a first-account experience of coaching one of the best swimmers in the world. He is going to blog at gocolgateraiders.com while coaching Agnel in Spain.