Kate Sanderson is off to the Tokyo Olympics after placing in the top nine in marathon swimming.
Her uncle Peter Sanderson, who was watching the Paralympic Marathon qualifier recently held in Port Elgin, said that his niece was in Portugal at the 10km qualifier where she qualified to go to Tokyo.
Her time of 2:01:58 was good for third overall, just three seconds behind first-place finisher Anna Olasz of Hungary and two seconds behind Paula Ruiz of Spain.
With her qualification, the 21-year-old will participate in her first ever Olympic Games this summer. Sanderson earned her spot at Saturday’s qualifier by finishing as Canada’s top female in the 10km event at 2019 FINA World Championships. She will now look to claim Canada’s first medal in the event since Richard Weinberger‘s bronze at the 2012 London games.
Sanderson is the daughter of Mark Sanderson and the niece of local residents Sue and Bill Buckton, all of Port Elgin.
Sue Buckton will be hosting a private ‘watch’ party on August 3 in The Pines at Lakeshore Recreation Centre where Kate’s fans will be wearing ‘Kate’ T-shirts.
GO KATE!!
