Olympian teaches tips, tricks, inspires leadership with local swimmers

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“Results are the evidence of your decisions,” Javier Acevedo says.

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That applies both in and outside the pool for the Olympic finalist swimmer and three-time Olympian who competed in Rio in 2016, Tokyo in 2020/21 and Paris in 2024.

It was a quote he embraced in the early days of his age-group swimming. And it’s one that still inspires him.

Acevedo, 27, was in Sudbury to lead two swimming clinics and enjoy a team dinner with the Sudbury Laurentian Swim Club, May 9-10. He coaches at North York Aquatic Club now, while contemplating a fourth Olympics.

“The decisions I make right now, coming to Sudbury and hopefully inspiring these kids or making some sort of impact, will be the result I’m giving them,” he explained.

“And they’re hopefully going to pass on to their generation or their gratitude towards the sport of swimming. And lead to better excellence in the city of Sudbury.

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“I know there’s a lot of hardships in Sudbury with the pool situation (referring to Laurentian University’s shuttered Olympic pool. If we want the sport to grow, we need this leadership from athletes and senior leaders in our communities.”

Athletes and senior leaders in the communities, and not just swimmers, need to do a better job of caring about sport, he added.

“I know I’m speaking from a swimming perspective, but we need to do a better job of caring about sport. Sport is a great thing for mental health. A great thing for the community, safety, all this stuff. Enjoyment.

“We’re feeling a great patriotic sense in Canada right now of who we are as Canadians. I think giving back in this moment is something we all need to cherish and take advantage of.”

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As for applying his motto at a basic level, it can be about decisions made ahead of a test, for example.

“If you want an A-plus you know you’re going to have to sacrifice time outside of school, outside of athletics or whatever to make time to go study for that test.”

It’s the same with swimming.

“I was at their (young swimmers) level at one point. I remember those days of really struggling at practice, trying to find that next level and how I get there.”

He says he could have decided not to bother making the pace times in practice.

“I could have decided you know what, I can’t do it. I’m going to cry. I’m going to sulk and that’s it. But I decided that if I do want to get to be an Olympian, or improve at that time. I’m really talk about improving. There was no Olympic dream at that point.

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“As I made good or poor decisions the results are there. And that’s what so good about our sport. You see the results right there and it’s a timed-based thing.”

Olympic experience — here’s what he says

There are two parts to Acevedo’s Olympic experience.

The best part is the people he meets, first in 2016 as the youngest Canadian male on the team at Rio and then throughout the Olympic Village over the years, talking to all athletes.

“And getting to represent the maple leaf the flag and everything that Canada stands for at the Olympics is unlike anything. I’m really grateful to have experienced that, not just once, twice but three times.”

He has also enjoyed being part of three generations of Canadian swimming.

Then there was making his first Olympic final in his third and what he thought was last Olympics in Paris.

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Acevedo was part of the men’s relay team that was fifth in the 4×100-metre medley relay and sixth in the 4×100 free relay. He was 20th in the 100-metre backstroke.

“It’s something I always dreamed of, being in an Olympic final.”

He felt that he had underachieved, perhaps, in his goals at his first two Olympics. But to make the finals in Paris “demonstrated my ability to overcome challenges and obstacles and also to put my best foot forward, having one of the best relay splits on the team at that time.”

Yes, but are we retired?

Earlier this year, World Aquatics (formerly FINA), the governing body of swimming, announced the addition of three 50-metre events for the 2028 Los Angeles Olympics: butterfly, backstroke and butterfly.

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Acevedo is now pondering a fourth Games.

“I think if I decide to go it’s an exciting challenge and I love that part of the sport, the challenge and the excitement that comes with it. It’ll be great.”

He is the Canadian record-holder in the 50-metre backstroke and feels he has a shot in the 50-metre breaststroke, too, if he keeps developing.

“I think if I can do that, there’s no limit.”

These days, Acevedo is working full-time for the Ontario government, coaching full-time for North York and training four days a week.

That’s the hardest part of swimming right now, finding that balance and having the onus on him to get to the pool.

As a younger swimmer, it was all about scheduling and the commuting, the driving his parents did, to get him to a good school and to the pool.

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Friendship and relationships have helped him keep his passion for swimming.

“The friendships I’ve made throughout my career have stuck with me. You just form a bond with them and it makes you want to keep going and pursing more of that Olympic experience. It’s like an addiction, almost.”

Good friendships outside the sport were also helpful.

“That was also motivating, having the right people around me in my bubble that show the same passion towards what I’m doing and encouraging me to keep doing what I’m doing.”

Follow Acevedo on Instagram: @javier_acevedo1.

For more on the pool story, visit thesudburystar.com/sports/sudbury-a-perfect-location-for-a-50-metre-multipurpose-complex.

Laura Young’s Personal Best column appears regularly in The Sudbury Star.

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