Following the recent end of an impressive high school career, the goal for Syla Swords has shifted to making the Canadian women's basketball team heading to Paris.
"I want to put myself in the best position to make that team, but at the end of the day, I understand that I'm still young," Swords said."I understand that I have hopefully a couple more Olympics to go where I can try out for that team and hopefully represent Canada. Swords's goal was always to represent Canada like her father Shawn Swords, who played for the men's team at the 2000 Olympics and professionally overseas. His Olympic jersey hangs at the gym Syla Swords once trained at.
Shawn Swords and mother, Shelley Dewar, who played at Laurentian and overseas professionally, sent an email to Lutheran head coach Christina Raiti looking to get Syla and her younger sister, Savannah, into the program. With the move, and her time with the Canadian senior women's team, Swords made a leap on both sides of the ball in her final two seasons. Swords, well known for her shooting prowess, averaged 17.6 points, 7.5 rebounds and 5.1 assists per game for Lutheran in 2023-24.