Courtesy of Apollo Hess

Celebrating Indigenous Excellence: 2025 Team Canada Indigenous Athlete Award Recipients Announced

One of the most important teachings that Indigenous Team Canada swimmer and Paris 2024 Olympian Apollo Hess has adopted from his community to his everyday life is to channel the spirit of the buffalo when facing adversity.

A member of the Kainai Nation (Blood Tribe), one of the four Nations that make up the Blackfoot Confederacy in Alberta, Hess says the buffalo is the only animal known to turn and face a storm head first instead of running away from it.

“What I find most unique and empowering about my culture is knowing the hardships and traumas my ancestors experienced and survived for me to be here,” he says. “It gives me strength, pride, and courage. No matter the storm you might face, the best way around it is through.”

When Hess first moved to Toronto, a year before being named to the Olympic team and thus qualifying for carding from the Athlete Assistance Program, he struggled to support himself financially as a high performance athlete. The costs of quality training, coaching, nutrition, travel for competition and more, were adding up.

Despite the challenges, Hess kept pushing through, eventually qualifying for the Paris 2024 Olympic Games after placing second in the men’s 100m breaststroke at the Olympic Swimming Trials. At Paris 2024, Hess finished fifth with the Canadian 4x100m mixed medley relay team.

While 22-year-old Hess is now proud to be fully self-sufficient, he says he is still hesitant to make the purchases required to maintain the demanding standard of a high-performance athlete on such a restrictive budget.

“I book the cheapest flights I can find, pack what should fit into a regular suitcase into a carry-on, and look for as many deals as I can find on groceries, which I find affects my day-to-day training,” he says.

This year, however, Hess is one of five Indigenous athletes selected to receive a Team Canada Indigenous Award, through the Canadian Olympic Foundation. All five recipients will receive $20,000 over two years to help with the financial costs of training and competing.

The Team Canada Indigenous Awards are made possible through the leadership and continued generosity of the Bitove Family, who established the awards in 2021, and through new support from G. Scott & Sarah Paterson and the Lake Family’s All One Fund.

“This bursary will help my athletic development and performance, allowing me to put more focus and mental energy into perfecting my craft, and enabling me to train and compete with a clearer mind and less weight on my shoulders,” Hess says. “I am so incredibly grateful. This award means the world to me.”

Shortly after qualifying for the Olympic Games last year, Hess traveled to Siksika nation, east of Calgary, where he spoke to a high school there and shared his story.

“I hope to inspire youth with backgrounds like mine, and to show them that if I can make my dreams come true, so can they,” he says.

The Canadian Olympic Foundation is pleased to announce the 2025 recipients of the Indigenous Athlete Awards:

The Canadian Olympic Committee is committed to supporting sport in Indigenous communities through Calls to Action #87-91 of the Truth and Reconciliation Commission. This award is part of the COC’s overall commitment to making sport safe, inclusive and barrier-free so more young people can play and stay in sport, recognizing the need to lead a more diverse and inclusive Team Canada to podium success.