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VISCOUNT ALEXANDER AWARD
for Outstanding Junior Male Athlete
Benoit Huot - Swimming
Nominated by Swimming Canada Natation
Competing in the same pool where one month earlier his idol, Australian Olympian Ian Thorpe, dazzled the world, Benoit Huot put on his own outstanding performance. The first-time Paralympian won gold in world-record time in 50m freestyle and 4x100m medley relay and added another gold in 200m individual medley in Paralympic record time. He rounded out the meet with silver medals in 100m and 400m freestyle and 100m backstroke.
The 17-year-old student from St-Hubert, Qué., blazed onto the scene in 1998 as a member of Canada's team to the International Paralympic Committee world championships, where he won two gold and four silver medals. Savouring his first foray into high-performance swimming, Huot returned home more committed than ever to the sport he loves. Buoyed by newfound confidence, he trained intensively, determined to perfect his aggressive attack on the water. In 1999 he won three more gold medals and a pair of silvers at the U.S. nationals for swimmers with a disability. Huot, who has been swimming since the age of four, served further notice that he was primed for Sydney with a world record in 50m freestyle at the Paralympic trials.
Diligent and disciplined, Huot pays meticulous attention to detail and has developed very fine stroke mechanics. Guided by the expert advice of coach Guy Dorion, he is powerfully motivated by his desire to swim each stroke as close to perfection as possible. Swimming also consumes his spare time as he searches the internet for facts and stats on everything to do with the sport. His head, says Dorion, is a "computer of facts on swimming around the world."
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