Ingrid Wilm (born 8 June 1998) is a Canadian

swimmer Swimming is an individual or team racing sport that requires the use of one's entire body to move through water. The sport takes place in pools or open water (e.g., in a sea or lake). Competitive swimming is one of the most popular Olympic ...

, specializing in the

backstroke Backstroke or back crawl is one of the four Swimming (sport), swimming styles used in competitive events regulated by FINA, and the only one of these styles swum on the back. This swimming style has the advantage of easy breathing, but the disa ...

Career

Considered a promising backstroker in her early teenage years, Wilm initially hoped to qualify for the Canadian team for the

2016 Summer Olympics The 2016 Summer Olympics (), officially the Games of the XXXI Olympiad () and officially branded as Rio 2016, were an international multi-sport event held from 5 to 21 August 2016 in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, with preliminary events i ...

, but she suffered a significant injury setback after tearing several elbow ligaments in a meet prior to the national swim trials. She struggled with the aftereffects for several years. Internationally, Wilm competed in the women's 50 metre backstroke event at the

2018 FINA World Swimming Championships (25 m) The 14th FINA World Swimming Championships (25 m) were held from 11 to 16 December 2018 in Hangzhou, China. These championships featured swimming events in a 25-meter ( short-course) pool. Medal table Results Men's events Women's events ...

, in

Hangzhou Hangzhou, , Standard Mandarin pronunciation: ; formerly romanized as Hangchow is a sub-provincial city in East China and the capital of Zhejiang province. With a population of 13 million, the municipality comprises ten districts, two counti ...

, China. While attending the

University of British Columbia The University of British Columbia (UBC) is a Public university, public research university with campuses near University of British Columbia Vancouver, Vancouver and University of British Columbia Okanagan, Kelowna, in British Columbia, Canada ...

, Wilm was part of the Canadian team for the

2019 Summer Universiade The 2019 Summer Universiade (), officially known as the XXX Summer Universiade () and also known as Naples 2019, or Napoli 2019, was held in Naples, Italy, between 3 and 14 July 2019. It was initially scheduled for Brasília, Brazil in July 201 ...

and won a bronze medal as part of the 4×100 m medley relay. After this, she opted to stop training in

Vancouver Vancouver is a major city in Western Canada, located in the Lower Mainland region of British Columbia. As the List of cities in British Columbia, most populous city in the province, the 2021 Canadian census recorded 662,248 people in the cit ...

and returned to

Calgary Calgary () is a major city in the Canadian province of Alberta. As of 2021, the city proper had a population of 1,306,784 and a metropolitan population of 1,481,806 making it the third-largest city and fifth-largest metropolitan area in C ...

and her prior coach David Johnson. She struggled with funding frequently in this period, and was only able to continue due to financial assistance from siblings and other donors. Wilm missed qualification for the Canadian Olympic team for

2020 The year 2020 was heavily defined by the COVID-19 pandemic, which led to global Social impact of the COVID-19 pandemic, social and Economic impact of the COVID-19 pandemic, economic disruption, mass cancellations and postponements of even ...

. Months later, she swam for the

LA Current The LA Current is a professional swimming club and one of the original eight clubs of the International Swimming League. The team is based in Los Angeles led by general manager Lenny Krayzelburg and head coach David Marsh (swimming coach), David ...

team in the

2021 International Swimming League The 2021 International Swimming League was the third and final edition of the International Swimming League, a professional swimming league, established in 2019. It comprised ten teams composed of both women and men. The league, due to COVID-19 pa ...

. Wilm was a post-draft signing by the LA Current and soon established herself as one of the leading backstrokers in the league. She won six of the eight 100 metre backstroke races she swam in and also picked up wins in the 50 and 200 metre backstroke and in the 50 metre Skins event. Wilm finished eleventh on the season

MVP MVP most commonly refers to: * Most valuable player, an award, typically for the best performing player in a sport or competition * Minimum viable product, a concept for feature estimating used in business and engineering MVP may also refer to: ...

list and was the top ranked woman on the LA Current team. Wilm qualified for the Canadian team for the

2022 World Aquatics Championships The 2022 World Aquatics Championships, the 19th edition of the FINA World Aquatics Championships, were held in Budapest, Hungary, from 17 June to 3 July 2022. These championships included five disciplines, with high diving not staged for this edi ...

, her first appearance at the World Championships, and reached the event final of the 50 m backstroke after coming fourth in the semi-finals. She finished fourth, 0.03 seconds behind bronze medalist

Analia Pigrée Analia Pigrée (born 31 July 2001) is a French Guianese swimmer who competes internationally representing France. She is the French record holder in the long course and short course 50 metre backstroke and the short course 100 metre backstrok ...

of France. Wilm then competed the backstroke leg for Team Canada in the heats of the 4×100 m medley relay, helping the team qualify to the final in fourth position. She was replaced in the final by

Kylie Masse Kylie Jacqueline Masse (born January 18, 1996) is a Canadian competitive swimmer. A noted backstroke specialist, she is a five-time Olympic medallist, three-time World Aquatics champion, three-time Commonwealth Games gold medallist, and the 20 ...

, but shared in the team's bronze medal win. Concluding the year at the 2022 World Swimming Championships in

Melbourne Melbourne ( , ; Boonwurrung language, Boonwurrung/ or ) is the List of Australian capital cities, capital and List of cities in Australia by population, most populous city of the States and territories of Australia, Australian state of Victori ...

, Wilm performed the backstroke leg for the Canadian team in the heats of the mixed 4×50 m medley. She was replaced by Masse in the final, and shared the team's bronze medal win. She claimed her first individual medal at the championship in the 100 m backstroke, tying for bronze with American

Claire Curzan Claire Curzan (born June 30, 2004) is an American competitive swimmer and Olympian. Specialising in multiple events, she earned an Olympic silver medal in the 4×100 meter medley relay in the 2020 Summer Olympics by swimming the preliminary bu ...

. On the last day of competition Wilm swam the backstroke leg for Canada in the final of the 4×100 metre medley relay and earned her third bronze medal of the championships. At the 2023 Canadian swimming trials, Wilm upset Masse for the gold medal in the 100 metre backstroke, her personal best time of 58.80 the first time she had ever gone under 59 seconds. She finished second in both the 50 and 200 metre distances. Wilm began the

2023 World Aquatics Championships The 2023 World Aquatics Championships, the 20th edition of the World Aquatics Championships, were held in Fukuoka, Japan, from 14 to 30 July 2023. Originally scheduled to be held in 2021 as the 19th championships, the championships were postpo ...

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competing in the 100 m backstroke, where she reached the event final and finished in fifth place. She reached the final of the 50 m backstroke next, coming sixth. Wilm did not make it out of the heats of the 200 m backstroke, but for the second consecutive championships she earned a bronze medal swimming in the heats of the 4×100 m medley relay. While many of Canada's top swimmers opted to skip the

2024 World Aquatics Championships The 2024 World Aquatics Championships, the 21st edition of the World Aquatics Championships, were held in Doha, Qatar, from 2 to 18 February 2024. Originally scheduled to be held in November 2023, the championships were postponed until February ...

Doha Doha ( ) is the capital city and main financial hub of Qatar. Located on the Persian Gulf coast in the east of the country, north of Al Wakrah and south of Al Khor (city), Al Khor and Lusail, it is home to most of the country's population. It ...

, Wilm was named to the team. She reached the final of the 100 m backstroke and won the bronze medal, out-touching fourth-place Jaclyn Barclay of Australia by 0.10 seconds. This was Wilm's first individual World Aquatics medal, which she called "pretty special." Two days later she won a second bronze medal in the 50 m backstroke, narrowly beating Briton Lauren Cox by 0.04 seconds. With Masse absent, Wilm was Canada's backstroke swimmer in the finals of the 4×100 m medley relay, winning another bronze medal.

References

External links

* * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Wilm, Ingrid 1998 births Living people Canadian female backstroke swimmers Swimmers from Calgary Summer World University Games medalists in swimming Medalists at the 2019 Summer Universiade World Aquatics Championships medalists in swimming Medalists at the FINA World Swimming Championships (25 m) 21st-century Canadian sportswomen FISU World University Games bronze medalists for Canada Swimmers at the 2024 Summer Olympics Olympic swimmers for Canada