Alexandre Landry just keeps setting new Swim Ontario NEOR (North East Region) records – even when he’s not expected to.

With the 2025 Canadian Short-Course Championships scheduled in Sherbrooke (PQ) from August 7th to 10th, the 22 year old Valley East native was going to be competing a month or so after the overwhelming majority of the competitive swimmers in Ontario had eased into off-season mode, setting their sights on a return to the pool in early September.

Given that the event was serving as a de facto qualifier for the upcoming World Cup races in Toronto in October, Landry had little choice but to compete.

But given that the cutoff for his trademark breaststroke events was right around the top twenty or so, the friendly-natured lad who is finishing his undergraduate studies at Laurentian University this winter was more than comfortable in his ability to hit the mark.

In tandem with Sudbury Laurentian Swim Club (SLSC) head coach Dean Henze, Landry had decided to juggle his traditional training, following up a stretch of sprint preparation with some far more elongated sessions.

“That was a bit of a challenge for me; I am really not a distance swimmer,” Landry acknowledged with a smile. The week before nationals, he would train with Henze and the Barrie Trojans, the former club of the now well-established SLSC swim mentor.

“They have the (track start wedge) blocks, which is really good for me because blocks are where I struggle the most compared to other swimmers,” said Landry, alluding to the fact that none of the pools in Sudbury are equipped with the racing technology that is featured in many other facilities in the province.

Still, expectations were modest at that point in time, with Landry and Henze targetting perhaps a 1:03 in the 100m breast and a 29-second 50m.

“On the last day in Barrie, I did a broken 100m breast in 1:01.00,” said Landry. “That was fast.”

And most unexpected.

Taking a personal best time (and NEOR record) of 1:02.27 into the “B” final in Sherbrooke, Landry bolted his way to a 1:01.72 clocking (11th in the country), shaving another 1/100th of a second off his 50m record as well at the same meet (28.56).

As Landry sat down following a week of complete relaxation, morphing into non-pool training for a month or so prior to the 2025-2026 season, he attempted to wrap his mind around another step in a swimming progression that honestly did not really start to pick up steam until his late teens.

“I am going more to the gym, receiving workouts from the High Performance Centre weekly, so getting stronger, which helps short-course a lot,” he said.

At least as important to the talented young swimmer who is looking to attend the University of Ottawa next fall, completing Teachers College in French while competing in the U Sports ranks for the very first time is the progress he has made as a leader and role model to a group of SLSC youngsters that have coach Henze and company super excited.

“We had 11 swimmers at provincials (at TPASC in early July), the most by far that I have seen,” noted Landry, the elder statesman of that group securing both a gold and silver medal at the meet. “It’s a fun experience to see the young kids coming up and getting results.”

“Every year, I think I have improved in recognizing the knowledge I have and knowing how to share it,” he added. “I look at Callum Duncan; he is way ahead of where I was at his age, which is really fun to see.”

“There is a lot of potential here.”

Thoughts of Ottawa have Landry understandably stoked.

Former teammate James Bertrim is entering his second year as a member of the Gee Gees varsity team. Long-time SLSC sensation Nina Kucheran is attending Medical School at U of O and lending a helping hand within the coaching ranks.

In the meantime, the current calendar includes the traditional Murray Drudge Invitational (December 2025), Ontario Age Groups (March 2026) and Canadian Swimming Trials in Montreal (July 2026) once Landry has done the World Cup.

Beyond the scheduled mainstays comes the possibility of attending the Mare Norstrum Swim Meet series in May, a ten-day event that features races in Spain, France and Monaco.

And with a little luck, Alexandre Landry will continue to progress – and perhaps even surprise himself, just a little, from time to time with his accomplishments in the pool.