Pickering teen to swim with the Mustangs

PICKERING -- With swimming such a big part of his life since age 9, Mike Storto is determined to

The Pickering Swim Club member has earned a spot on the University of Western Ontario Mustangs’ men’s swim team in the fall, where he’s expected to be the team’s distance freestyle specialist at the London, Ontario university.

Storto says he was prepared to swim and study at the University of Guelph and the University of Toronto, but opted for UWO due to his study requirements, in the environmental science realm, as well as for the strength of the swim team.

“In January I went (to London) for a visit to get a feel for the team and I liked the coach very much. It seemed to be a good fit,” says Storto, 17, who’ll be swimming his specialties, the 400-metre and 800m freestyle.

Although swimming in the U.S. on scholarship was an option for the Pickering resident and Notre Dame Catholic Secondary School graduate, Storto says he had no thoughts of swimming or studying stateside.

“I wanted to stay close to home and get an education up here. I didn’t really want to go to the U.S.,” he says.

Storto is grateful to the Pickering Swim Club and especially to head coach Lucie Hewitt-Henderson for helping him develop in the sport.

“My coach, coach Lucie, has been a great help to me. She has helped me develop as a swimmer and a person. I have a lot of close friends here. They’ve all been great,” he says.

His last meet with the Pickering club will come at the upcoming Club Nationals in Montreal in late July. He hopes to leave the swim club with a strong performance.

“Hopefully, I can put together some good times. I hope to do well there,” he says.

He’s most proud during his eight years with the Pickering club of achieving the club record in the boys’ 17-and-over 400-metre freestyle. Storto does, however, say that the record will likely fall to one of his friends at the club.

“It will probably be broken next year and Adam Gomba is most likely to break it,” he says.