Syla Swords makes history as youngest Canadian basketball Olympian

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Shawn Swords may be the first member of his family to wear the Maple Leaf on an Olympic basketball court, having done so in Sydney in 2000, but not even the former Laurentian University bench boss can say he made the roster at only 18 years old.

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That achievement belongs to none other than his daughter, Sudbury-raised sensation Syla Swords, who on Tuesday became the youngest-ever basketball player to represent the country at the Olympics.

Canada Basketball and the Canadian Olympic Committee named Syla Swords, as well as 11 other players, to the Team Canada roster on Tuesday. They’ll compete at the Paris 2024 Olympic Games from July 27 to Aug. 11.

Canada Basketball’s senior women’s national team successfully qualified for its fourth consecutive Olympic Games by finishing third in one of four FIBA Women’s Olympic Qualification Tournaments this past February.

Paris 2024 will be Canada’s eighth appearance in the Olympic women’s tournament since it debuted in Montreal in 1976.

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Not since 2000, when the elder Swords made his appearance in Sydney, have Canada’s women’s and men’s basketball teams competed together at an Olympic Games.

Born in France, where her father played pro basketball, Syla Swords was raised in Sudbury and began her high school career at Lo-Ellen Park Secondary School and was named to the 2022 BioSteel All-Canadian Basketball Game. She relocated to Long Island when Shawn took a position with the Long Island Nets of the NBA G-League and began starring for Long Island Lutheran and helped the team to the Nike Tournament of Champions title in 2022.

Swords was named to the World Team for the women’s Nike Hoop Summit in both 2023 and 2024. She was also named this year to both the Jordan Brand Classic and the McDonald’s All-American Girls Game and was named as Gatorade Player of the Year.

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She’s committed to the University of Michigan for next fall.

Canada’s full player roster includes:

– Natalie Achonwa (Guelph, Ont.)
– Kayla Alexander (Milton, Ont.)
– Laeticia Amihere (Mississauga, Ont.)
– Bridget Carleton (Chatham, Ont.)
– Shay Colley (Brampton, Ont.)
– Aaliyah Edwards (Kingston, Ont.)
– Yvonne Ejim (Calgary, Alta.)
– Nirra Fields (Montreal, Que.)
– Sami Hill (Toronto, Ont.)
– Kia Nurse (Hamilton, Ont.)
– Cassandre Prosper (Montreal, Que.)
– Syla Swords (Sudbury, Ont.)

Achonwa, who is set to become Canada’s first four-time Olympian in women’s basketball, will provide a veteran presence as the team pursues its first Olympic medal. Achonwa played nine seasons in the WNBA with the Indiana Fever and Minnesota Lynx and received the Dawn Staley Community Leadership Award in 2020.

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Canada’s four current WNBA players — Amihere, Carleton, Edwards and Nurse — will join the team later this month. This will be the second Olympic Games for Amihere, Carleton, and Edwards and the third for Nurse, who represented Canada at Rio 2016 and Tokyo 2020. Canada’s roster features seven players with WNBA experience, including co-captain Alexander, who was selected eighth overall by San Antonio in the 2013 WNBA Draft and played nine seasons in the league.

Swords will be one of four players, along with Ejim, Hill and Prosper, to make their Olympic debuts in Paris.

Canada’s best Olympic result in women’s basketball was a fourth-place finish at Los Angeles in 1984. Currently fifth in the FIBA rankings, Canada also finished fourth at the most recent FIBA Women’s Basketball World Cup in 2022. Last week, Canada defeated Portugal 91-65 in an exhibition game in Victoria, B.C. The team will travel overseas to Belgium and Spain to continue training camp and exhibition schedule before arriving in France.

Pierre Mauroy Stadium in Lille will host the preliminary phase of the Olympic women’s tournament before the final phase shifts to Paris and Bercy Arena. Canada’s first tournament game will be on July 29 at 11:15 a.m. ET against host France.

— with files from Canada Basketball and the Canadian Olympic Committee

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