Julia Wilkinson
Encyclopedia
Julia Rose Wilkinson is a Canadian
backstroke
, medley
, and freestyle
swimmer. She was born in Stratford, Ontario
.
. She broke the same record again by swimming it in 1:00.59 at the final swimming meet before the Olympics. Erin Gammel
previously held the record with her 1:01.93 time set in 2005. At the 2008 Mel Zajac, Jr. International swim meet in Vancouver, British Columbia, she broke the Canadian record for the 50 m backstroke with her time of 28.53. The record was previously held by Jennifer Carroll, who set it in the 2003 World Championships.
Wilkinson became qualified to compete in the 100 m back, 200 m free, 200 m individual medley, the 4 x 100 and 4 x 200 free, and the 4 x 100 medley relays at the 2008 Summer Olympics. In the 4x100m relay, her team finished 8th, compiling a record time of 3:38:32. She dropped the 200 m freestyle to concentrate on the 200 m individual medley. In the 200 m individual medley, she finished in 7th place, with a time of 2:12.43.
At the 4x100m medley race, she finished in 7th.
She was named to Canada's Senior National Team for the 2009–2010 season at the Canada Cup opening night in Toronto. She went on to win the 100 free that evening with 54.19 with no shoulder complications after her surgery and recovery last year.
She is returning for her final season as a senior at Texas A&M following her shoulder injury. Wilkinson was instrumental in A&M’s dual victory against Missouri, winning three individual events and swimming the backstroke on the first-place 200 medley relay. She also swam in four winning relays as the Aggies claimed the team title at the Big 12 Relays. She received the Big12 Swimming of the Week Award for her performance.
She looks forward to Big12s against main rivals Texas and racing at NCAAs, aiming for an individual title.
She was nominated to carry the Vancouver 2010 Olympic Torch through her hometown of Stratford, Ontario on December 27, 2009. She cites, the great support Stratford has given her in reaching her dreams.
At the Big12 Championships in College Station Texas (February 24–27) Wilkinson carried her team to a victory upset against the #3 Texas Longhorns. She was named Outstanding Swimming of the Meet with 6 first place finishes and 1 second place finish.
The first night, the A&M women brought the crowd to its feet with a winning effort in the 800-yard freestyle relay. The Aggie foursome of senior Kristen Heiss, senior Melissa Hain, freshman Maureen McLaine and senior Julia Wilkinson hit the wall in an NCAA “A” cut of 7:01.63 to edge out the Longhorns (7:02.10). The Aggies trailed the Longhorns by more than a second after 600 yards, but Wilkinson closed with an impressive 1:43.41 split to overtake Texas’ Kathleen Hersey for the win.
She continued her dominance in the 200-yard freestyle relay where Aggies trailed after the first 100 yards by .39 of a second, but Woods turned in a third-leg split of 22.20 and Wilkinson went 22.00 on the anchor for the win out-touching Longhorns 1:29.31 to 1:29.45. In the 200IM, Julia was first in an NCAA “A” cut time of 1:55.81. Continuing on, Julia finished first in the 100 back with a seasons best of 52.77 and second in the 400 medly relay in 3:33.91. In the final day of competition, Julia set a new meet record bettering her old time with 47.74 in the 100 free. Then again in the 400 free relay, the foursome of Heiss, Doerge, Woods and Wilkinson hit the wall in a time of 3:15.23. Wilkinson entered the water facing a .66 second deficit, but turned in a 47.27 anchor split for the win. Numerous times Julia beat out Texas Olympian Kathleen Hersey. She finishes her career with 20 conference championships and 8 individual titles, one of the highest for a Texas A&M Swimmer.
At NCAA's Wilkinson became the first National Champion for Texas A&M by winning the 100 free with 47.61 beating out Georgia and California taking second and third. Her win was the first for the Aggies and a second win was followed by Alia Atkinson. Julia showed her dominance at the NCAAs this year by also taking 2nd in the 200 IM and 3rd in the 200 free.
, where she is majoring in communications and is a member of the women's swimming and diving team. In 2008, she was named the Big 12 Women's Swimmer of the Year.
She is the daughter of Mark (doctor) and Mary (8th grade English teacher) Wilkinson. She has 1 older sister, Jane who also swam competitively in university.
Canada
Canada is a North American country consisting of ten provinces and three territories. Located in the northern part of the continent, it extends from the Atlantic Ocean in the east to the Pacific Ocean in the west, and northward into the Arctic Ocean...
backstroke
Backstroke
The backstroke, also sometimes called the back crawl, is one of the four swimming styles regulated by FINA, and the only regulated style swum on the back. This has the advantage of easy breathing, but the disadvantage of swimmers not being able to see where they are going. It is also the only...
, medley
Medley swimming
Medley is a combination of four different swimming styles into one race. This race is either swum by one swimmer as individual medley or by four swimmers as a medley relay...
, and freestyle
Freestyle swimming
Freestyle is an unregulated swimming style used in swimming competitions according to the rules of FINA. The front crawl stroke is almost universally used during a freestyle race, as this style is generally the fastest...
swimmer. She was born in Stratford, Ontario
Stratford, Ontario
Stratford is a city on the Avon River in Perth County in southwestern Ontario, Canada with a population of 32,000.When the area was first settled by Europeans in 1832, the townsite and the river were named after Stratford-upon-Avon, England. It is the seat of Perth County. Stratford was...
.
2008 Olympics
At the 2008 Canadian Olympic Trials, she broke the Canadian national record in the women's 100 m backstroke with her time of 1:01.41, automatically qualifying for the 2008 Summer Olympics2008 Summer Olympics
The 2008 Summer Olympics, officially known as the Games of the XXIX Olympiad, was a major international multi-sport event that took place in Beijing, China, from August 8 to August 24, 2008. A total of 11,028 athletes from 204 National Olympic Committees competed in 28 sports and 302 events...
. She broke the same record again by swimming it in 1:00.59 at the final swimming meet before the Olympics. Erin Gammel
Erin Gammel
Erin Gammel is an international backstroke swimmer from Canada, who competed for her native country at the 2004 Summer Olympics in Athens, Greece. There she finished in 17th position in the 100 m Backstroke, and in 11th place with the Canadian Relay Team in the 4x100 m Medley.-References:**...
previously held the record with her 1:01.93 time set in 2005. At the 2008 Mel Zajac, Jr. International swim meet in Vancouver, British Columbia, she broke the Canadian record for the 50 m backstroke with her time of 28.53. The record was previously held by Jennifer Carroll, who set it in the 2003 World Championships.
Wilkinson became qualified to compete in the 100 m back, 200 m free, 200 m individual medley, the 4 x 100 and 4 x 200 free, and the 4 x 100 medley relays at the 2008 Summer Olympics. In the 4x100m relay, her team finished 8th, compiling a record time of 3:38:32. She dropped the 200 m freestyle to concentrate on the 200 m individual medley. In the 200 m individual medley, she finished in 7th place, with a time of 2:12.43.
At the 4x100m medley race, she finished in 7th.
2009–2010 Season
In the summer of 2009, Julia represents Canada at the World Championships.She was named to Canada's Senior National Team for the 2009–2010 season at the Canada Cup opening night in Toronto. She went on to win the 100 free that evening with 54.19 with no shoulder complications after her surgery and recovery last year.
She is returning for her final season as a senior at Texas A&M following her shoulder injury. Wilkinson was instrumental in A&M’s dual victory against Missouri, winning three individual events and swimming the backstroke on the first-place 200 medley relay. She also swam in four winning relays as the Aggies claimed the team title at the Big 12 Relays. She received the Big12 Swimming of the Week Award for her performance.
She looks forward to Big12s against main rivals Texas and racing at NCAAs, aiming for an individual title.
She was nominated to carry the Vancouver 2010 Olympic Torch through her hometown of Stratford, Ontario on December 27, 2009. She cites, the great support Stratford has given her in reaching her dreams.
At the Big12 Championships in College Station Texas (February 24–27) Wilkinson carried her team to a victory upset against the #3 Texas Longhorns. She was named Outstanding Swimming of the Meet with 6 first place finishes and 1 second place finish.
The first night, the A&M women brought the crowd to its feet with a winning effort in the 800-yard freestyle relay. The Aggie foursome of senior Kristen Heiss, senior Melissa Hain, freshman Maureen McLaine and senior Julia Wilkinson hit the wall in an NCAA “A” cut of 7:01.63 to edge out the Longhorns (7:02.10). The Aggies trailed the Longhorns by more than a second after 600 yards, but Wilkinson closed with an impressive 1:43.41 split to overtake Texas’ Kathleen Hersey for the win.
She continued her dominance in the 200-yard freestyle relay where Aggies trailed after the first 100 yards by .39 of a second, but Woods turned in a third-leg split of 22.20 and Wilkinson went 22.00 on the anchor for the win out-touching Longhorns 1:29.31 to 1:29.45. In the 200IM, Julia was first in an NCAA “A” cut time of 1:55.81. Continuing on, Julia finished first in the 100 back with a seasons best of 52.77 and second in the 400 medly relay in 3:33.91. In the final day of competition, Julia set a new meet record bettering her old time with 47.74 in the 100 free. Then again in the 400 free relay, the foursome of Heiss, Doerge, Woods and Wilkinson hit the wall in a time of 3:15.23. Wilkinson entered the water facing a .66 second deficit, but turned in a 47.27 anchor split for the win. Numerous times Julia beat out Texas Olympian Kathleen Hersey. She finishes her career with 20 conference championships and 8 individual titles, one of the highest for a Texas A&M Swimmer.
At NCAA's Wilkinson became the first National Champion for Texas A&M by winning the 100 free with 47.61 beating out Georgia and California taking second and third. Her win was the first for the Aggies and a second win was followed by Alia Atkinson. Julia showed her dominance at the NCAAs this year by also taking 2nd in the 200 IM and 3rd in the 200 free.
2010 Commonwealth Games
Wilkinson entered in several events at the Commonwealth Games where she successfully earned 2 bronze medals; in the 200m individual medley, and in the 100m backstroke events, respectively. However, in the women's 4x100m freestyle relay final, the Canadian foursome (including Julia) clocked the second fastest time only to learn they had been disqualified due to an illegal takeover—this would have been Wilkinson's third medal in these Games.Personal
Wilkinson currently attends Texas A&M UniversityTexas A&M University
Texas A&M University is a coeducational public research university located in College Station, Texas . It is the flagship institution of the Texas A&M University System. The sixth-largest university in the United States, A&M's enrollment for Fall 2011 was over 50,000 for the first time in school...
, where she is majoring in communications and is a member of the women's swimming and diving team. In 2008, she was named the Big 12 Women's Swimmer of the Year.
She is the daughter of Mark (doctor) and Mary (8th grade English teacher) Wilkinson. She has 1 older sister, Jane who also swam competitively in university.