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Brampton athlete, Justin Medeiros, was recently selected to represent Canada as part of the team for the Commonwealth Festival of Lifesaving in Leeds, UK, later this month.

Each year, the Lifesaving Society hosts the Canadian Pool Lifesaving Championships. This year, it was held in June 2019.

Based on the performances at that championship, athletes were chosen onto the National Team to represent Canada at the Festival of Lifesaving.

Medeiros is the first person chosen from the YMCA of Greater Toronto to attend the Commonwealth Games.

He has been swimming since he was a baby and began his journey in parent and tot classes at the Brampton YMCA and continued taking swimming programs there throughout his childhood.

In 2014, he went on to become one of the first members of the YMCA Junior Lifeguard Club. H

Today, Medeiros is a coach for the Brampton Barracudas and Junior Lifeguard Club at the Brampton YMCA, where he coaches and mentors aspiring lifeguards. He has collected 24 medals over the years.

"The opportunity to represent my community and country is an amazing honour that I will be forever grateful for," said Medeiros. "I've been doubted most of my swimming career, so for me, it's just another moment to prove the doubters wrong."

"I've worked extremely hard to get to this point and it's been a dream of mine for a while. It's going to be a huge step for me and a great experience to work with the best coaches and swim alongside the best athletes. I'm very excited and can't wait to start this journey," he added.

Lifesaving is the only sport whose skills are recognized by the International Olympic Committee and the Commonwealth Games Federation.

The Commonwealth Festival of Lifesaving in Leeds will take place from November 21 - 23, 2019.