Cheer on our Local Olympians!
It’s going to be twice as exciting to watch the Tokyo Olympics this summer as two of Deer Run’s very own, Halle and Cole Pratt, are in the games. The Pratts have lived in Deer Run since 2007 and are a swimming family. This is the second major event the two siblings have been at together. The last time was in Gwangju, Korea at the 2019 World Swimming Championships. Both Cole & Halle are former students at Western Canada High School, Ecole Fairview & Sam Livingston Elementary in Calgary.
Please join us in cheering them on and in welcoming our Olympians back!
Hang up a Canadian flag in their honour!
Photo 1: Halle Pratt. Photo 2: Cole and Halle Pratt. Image courtesy of David Johnson from the 2019 World Swimming Championships, Gwangju Korea.
Halle Pratt - Artistic Swimming
Halle (21), will be in Tokyo as a part of the Canada Artistic Swimming Team with events running in week number two of the Olympic schedule.
Halle Pratt joined the Canadian national program in 2013, senior national team in 2017 and made her debut the next year at a pair of FINA World Series stops. She helped the Canadians swim to team gold at the 2019 Lima Pan Am Games, securing a spot at Tokyo 2020. You can see read Halle’s biography and connect with her through the Olympic.ca Team Canada website at https://olympic.ca/team-canada/halle-pratt/
Catch her in the pool at the Women’s Team events on Friday, Aug. 6 and Saturday, Aug. 7.
Halle Pratt, second from the right, at the 2019 Lima Pan Am Games.
Cole Pratt - 100m Backstroke
Cole Pratt, 18, was named to Team Canada based on his performance in the men’s 100m backstroke event. At the swimming Trials Pratt finished second (53.54) to Markus Thormeyer (53.40) the men’s Canadian record holder in the 100m back. Cole also finished second in the men’s 200m Individual Medley (2:00.49) and won the 200m backstroke (1:58.11) but will not contest those events at the games.
Cole is currently ranked 13th in the world (two athletes per country) in the backstroke event. Based on performances at the games he will potentially have two other events open for him to compete in – the men’s 4x100m Medley Relay and the mixed (both men’s & women’s) 4x100m Medley Relay. Relay selection is typically done at the games based on a number of factors most important of which will be current performances from the games.
The Olympic swimming program in Tokyo is in week number one of the games beginning July 24th with the men’s 100m backstroke heats being swum on July 25 (Heats), and July 26 (Finals). After the Olympic Games Cole’s next competition will be in Calgary at the club hosted Western Transmountain Festival II on August 7 and 8 happening at the Repsol Sports Centre.
Read Cole’s biography and find his social media channels at Cole Pratt -Swimming Canada.
Cole Pratt. Images courtesy of Swimming Canada from the Olympic Swimming Trials event (June 2021)
Tokyo 2020 Olympic Schedule
The Opening Ceremony will take place on July 23, 2021 at 7am EDT, but official competition will begin on Jul 20, 2021 (at 8pm EDT) and continue until August 8, 2021. You can find a schedule at https://olympic.ca/tokyo-2020-olympic-schedule/.
How to watch the Olympics in Canada
Canadians won't miss a moment of the excitement from the Olympic Stadium, with live coverage on CBC, CBC News Network, TSN and Sportsnet. Live streams of the Opening Ceremony will also be available via the free CBC Gem streaming service, CBC's dedicated Tokyo 2020 website (cbc.ca/tokyo2020), and the CBC Olympics app for iOS and Android devices.
See the CBE guide ‘How to connect to the Olympic Games Tokyo 2020”.