Kleanza James Cathers is in the Gisk'aast (Killerwhale) tribe from Wilps Niis Yuus.  Kleanza is from the Nisga'a Village of Gingolx but resides in Kitamat, BC with her parents Jason and Laverne Cathers.

We thank Kleanza's mother Laverne for submitting her information and photo.  Please see Kleanza's journey to excel in her sport:

Kleanza joined the Terrace Bluebacks Swim Club at age 7.  That year she also swam in her first swim competition.  At the age of 10 she she moved and switched to the Kitamat Marlin Swim Club.  She now has swam for a total of 7 years.  Every year she has swam and continues to improve in both fitness and swim technique.  Her dedication as she has aged has also increased.  Her practices have gotten longer, she trains more lenths of the pool up to 240 lengths or 6km a practice.  Her hard work and dedication has paid off over the years.  She has qualified for the canadian age group or western national swim meets within the last seasons in a row.  She has medaled at the AAA provincial champ, she had broken regional records and broken regional poor records in Terrace and in Kitamat.  This season she has trained up to 8 two hour practices a week as well as 3 strenth training practices a week in preparation for this summers North American Indigenous Games in Regina, Saskachewan.  She qualified for Team BC by being one of the fastest female aboriginal swimmers in BC and is a strong medal contender for the games.

Kleanza has fundraised for the games by participating in a team hotdog sale at Kitamat Overwaitee and a team bottle drive with the profits for the swimmers used for their major swim meets including the North American Indigenous Games. 

Kleanza would like to thank the Nisga'a Lisims Government for their continued support, her family and friends of the Gingolx Community, the Sons of Gingolx and the Gingolx Ladies Aide. 

Way to go Kleanza and Good Luck at the NAIG!