HIGH ACHIEVERS: Jordyn Richardson captures high-point swimming trophy at international debut in Japan

By Martin Cleary

Swimmer Jordyn Richardson certainly can reflect on the last month of 2025 as a December to remember.

“It was very busy, but very fun,” she summarized.

While she trained with her St. Joseph High School swim team, she had to withdraw from the National Capital Secondary School Athletic Association championships on Dec. 10 because it conflicted with the day she was leaving for the Ontario Junior International meet in Toronto.

(Even if she had qualified to represent the Jaguars at the OFSAA swimming championships March 3-4 in Windsor, she also would have had to scratch because it was the same time as the Ontario age-group championships in Markham March 5-8.)

The 14-year-old member of the Ottawa Y Olympians raced against swimmers up to age 18 at the Ontario Junior International Dec. 10-14 instead of her current 13-14-year-old category. But she gained valuable experience.

While she didn’t win any medals, she qualified for six A finals in her seven races, was the youngest finalist by birth year in all seven races and had a top showing of seventh in the 100-metre freestyle in 56.23 seconds.

The day after provincials, Richardson was on the move as part of the eight-athlete Team Ontario squad travelling to Sagamihara, Japan, for the eight-day Japanese Cultural Exchange Tour, which included a massive short-course swim meet at the end.

The tour was a training opportunity for the swimmers and was part of the Swim Ontario Domestic Podium Development project. The four-female and four-male swimmers were selected based on achieving World Class On-Track times during long-course meets between Jan. 1 and Aug. 31 in 2025.

“I got an email in September or October saying I had been invited to a cultural camp in Japan,” Richardson explained. “I was very, very, very happy and very surprised as well. I was super excited as I have not been to Japan as well. It would be my first international meet outside Canada.”

Richardson saved the best for her last competition of the year. But she didn’t expect her final overall result, given she had a busy meet the week before as well as the jet lag associated with flying halfway around the world on a 12-hour flight.

Richardson excelled in the water at the 27th Kanagawa Yume Kokutai Memorial meet, which attracted more than 2,600 swimmers, by winning the high-point trophy as the best athlete in the girls’ 13-14 class.

Coached by Olympian Norma Perez, Richardson competed in six individual preliminary races, qualified for six individual A finals and raced in two relay finals over two days. She posted the fastest times in four finals – the 50- and 100-metre freestyles and the 50- and 100-metre backstrokes – and also was third in the 200-metre breaststroke.

“I didn’t know I was in the running for it (high-point trophy),” Richardson said in a phone interview this week. “When I got it, I was very happy.

“I was pretty happy with the way I swam as it was not the best conditions. I flew halfway around the world to the meet.”

Each of the two days of swimming kept Team Ontario members at the pool for about 12 hours. Richardson used her non-swimming time well with naps and walks outside.

Richardson, who won her only other high-point trophy at the 2024 Ontario age-group championships, also posted personal-best times in the 50-metre freestyle, 100-metre butterfly and the 200-metre breaststroke in Sagamihara.

“I didn’t expect that at all,” she added. “I was super tired not only because of the jet lag, but also because I had competed the week before.”

Gavin Schinkelshoek of Pain Court, ON, joined Richardson as Ontario’s other high-point trophy award winner as he was the best swimmer in the boys’ 15-16-year-old division. Both swimmers received a trophy and a carton of eggs, which are a symbol of life and promise in Sagamihara, which is located in the southwestern part of the Greater Tokyo Area.

Richardson and Schinkelshoek formed half of two Ontario relay teams which won gold medals in the 4×100-metre mixed freestyle and 4×100-metre mixed medley finals at the 2025 Canada Summer Games. She also won two other medals at the Games – silver in the 4×100-metre freestyle relay and bronze in the 50-metre freestyle.

While the swim meet was an all-too-familiar experience for Richardson, the Japanese cultural aspect of the tour was all new to her.

She was billeted by a Japanese family and tried new foods, which she called a cool experience.

In the days leading up to the swim meet, Team Ontario members also visited the Tokyo Disney Resort in Urayasu, Chiba, the iconic Mount Fuji, travelled on a pirate cruise ship, had a ride in a human-powered rickshaw and visited the Ramen Museum.