As the Olympic torch fires up today, parting words from rower Dave Calder echo as resolutely as they did at last monthB次元官网网址檚 Olympic send-off.
B次元官网网址淚tB次元官网网址檚 Canadian to be modest, but our pride has caught on like wildfire.B次元官网网址�
And so it has, especially in Victoria, where Simon Whitfield has become as much a national icon in his own country as the flag heB次元官网网址檒l wave at the Opening Ceremony in London.
Calder has seen the rise in national confidence and credits president Marcel Aubut of the Canadian Olympic Committee for bringing athletics to the forefront in recent years.
But itB次元官网网址檚 also no secret the rigorous training regimes of an Olympic athlete has its ups and downs. And Calder is quick to point out London is the culmination of years of sacrifice.
B次元官网网址淒oing the work to get (to the Olympics) and getting support to be the best demands so much,B次元官网网址� he said. B次元官网网址淚f you see a Canadian on the podium, you know itB次元官网网址檚 taken the combined effort from hundreds of people to get them there.B次元官网网址�
No example is better than CalderB次元官网网址檚 two-year-old daughter.
B次元官网网址淚 calculated it out that IB次元官网网址檝e been on the water (rowing) for more time than sheB次元官网网址檚 been alive.B次元官网网址�
Calder and crewmate Scott Frandsen are gunning for a second-straight medal in the menB次元官网网址檚 pair, having won silver in 2008.
They are a veteran crew on CanadaB次元官网网址檚 summer Olympic team. Though Canada is a winter sport country, expectations have risen with the success at Vancouver 2010 and the Own the Podium program.
With rowers, swimmers, triathletes, cyclists and more, 痴颈肠迟辞谤颈补B次元官网网址檚 role as a training hub is on display in London now.
Before he left to London, Whitfield said sharing the areaB次元官网网址檚 resources with members of other disciplines in the high-performance community means more than youB次元官网网址檇 think.
B次元官网网址淵ou have Elk Lake, this beautiful lake, and youB次元官网网址檙e running around the back side of it in winter. ItB次元官网网址檚 pouring with rain, or snowing, and youB次元官网网址檙e gritting your teeth. You look out to the water and see rowers with no gloves on and no protection from the trees, which shield the running path from the rain, and you get pumped.
B次元官网网址淲hat a wonderful community that is.B次元官网网址�
From the Island, with love
With so many athletes based out of Greater Victoria for the areaB次元官网网址檚 year-round training climate, itB次元官网网址檚 getting hard to keep track of native athletes, temporary visitors, and transplants whoB次元官网网址檝e come to stay.
While the national training centres for swimming, rowing and triathlon are obvious draws, as is the Canadian Sports Centre Pacific, some come to Victoria in hopes of an international athletics career.
Not to be overlooked, the UVic Vikes athletic program is a key piece of the IslandB次元官网网址檚 Olympic development system. The Vikes are responsible for starting many Olympians on their way, such as alumnae Rachelle Viinberg (nee de Jong) and Darcy Marquardt. The pair of rowers are in the womenB次元官网网址檚 eight, though their time at the university has come and gone. Marquardt, however, only took up the sport upon arriving at UVic.
Lindsay Jennerich, 29, also competed for the Vikes. Jennerich, a Claremont secondary grad, and Patricia Obee, 20, from StellyB次元官网网址檚 secondary, will race the lightweight double.
Jennerich is originally from here and has no intentions of leaving. So much so that when Obee joined Jennerich in the double last year, the two led a successful coup against Rowing Canada to train in Victoria rather than London, Ont., the previous home of the womenB次元官网网址檚 double.
And unlike Marquardt and Viinberg, some Vikes do stick around.
Vikes alumni Gabe Bergen and Doug Csima are in this yearB次元官网网址檚 menB次元官网网址檚 eight crew, which is based out of Elk Lake. Other members of that boat, Andrew Byrnes and coxswain Brian Price, are from Ontario, but are embedded in Victoria.
B次元官网网址淚B次元官网网址檝e been living in Victoria for about seven of the last 10 years, full time since January 2007,B次元官网网址� said Price, who won gold with the boat at the 2008 Beijing Olympics. B次元官网网址淢y two kids were born at Victoria General Hospital and my wife works in Brentwood Bay.B次元官网网址�
Regardless, Price still lists his hometown as Belleville.
B次元官网网址淕otta keep the roots intact.B次元官网网址�
痴颈肠迟辞谤颈补B次元官网网址檚 Olympians
CyclingRyder Hesjedal, Road race, Time trialMax Plaxton, Mountain bikingGillian Carleton, Team track pursuit
SwimmingHilary Caldwell, 200m backstrokeStephanie Horner, 400m I.M.Richard Weinberger, open water 10k Ryan Cochrane, 400m freestyle, 1500m freestyleAlexa Komarnycky, 800m freestyleAlec Page, 400m I.M.Julia Wilkinson, 200m I.M.Blake Worsley, 200m freestyle
DivingRiley McCormick, 10m tower
TriathlonBrent McMahonSimon WhitfieldKyle JonesPaula Findlay
FencingMonica Peterson, foil
TrackHillary Stellingwerff, 1,500mBrent Fougner, Canadian senior national event group coach
RowingWomenB次元官网网址檚 lightweight doubleLindsay Jennerich and Patricia ObeeMenB次元官网网址檚 pairDavid Calder and Scott FrandsenMenB次元官网网址檚 doubleMichael Braithwaite and Kevin Kowalyk
MenB次元官网网址檚 fourWilliam Dean, Anthony Jacob, Derek OB次元官网网址橣arrell, Michael Wilkinson
MenB次元官网网址檚 eightGabe Bergen, Jeremiah Brown, Andrew Byrnes, Will Crothers, Douglas Csima, Robert Gibson, Malcolm Howard, Conlin McCabe, Brian Price
MenB次元官网网址檚 lightweight doubleMorgan JarvisDouglas VandorRowing coachesAllison Dobb, John Keogh, Terry Paul, Michael Spracklen, Kenny Wu
ATHLETES32 of 277 athletes are from Victoria = 12% of the Canadian Olympic Team and 29% of the 110 BC-based athletes headed to London9 of 277 athletes are from Vancouver Island = 3% of the Canadian Olympic Team and 8% of the 110 BC-based athletes headed to London41 of 277 athletes from all of Vancouver Island = 15% of the Canadian Olympic Team and 37% of the 110 BC-based athletes headed to LondonCOACHES and TECHNICAL STAFF10 of 96 coaches and technical staff are from Victoria = 10% of the Canadian Olympic Team and 39% of the 26 BC-based coaches headed to LondonMEDICAL SUPPORT STAFF4 of 36 medical support staff are from Victoria = 11% of the Canadian Olympic Team and 37% of the 11 BC-based medical support team headed to London
