Joshua Riker-Fox wins Gold in the Mixed Relay at the Pan American Championships!

TORONTO (July 24, 2014) – A very strong Canadian Pentathlon contingent, including three Olympians headed to Mexico City this past weekend and lead Canada to one of its strongest team performances at the Pan Am Championships held in Mexico City. This event was part of the Olympic Festival hosted through the summer in Mexico and represents a significant event in lead up to next years Toronto 2015 Pan Am Games. 17 nations were in attendance at this competitive and collegial event.

Leading the notable performances for Canada was Melanie McCann (Mount Carmel, ON) who took home a silver medal in the Women’s Individual event very close behind London 2012 bronze medalist Yane Marques of Brazil. Melanie then teamed with Joshua Riker-Fox (Delacour, AB) in the Mixed Relay where they put together a thrilling GOLD medal victory.

Donna Vakalis (Toronto, ON) also demonstrated excellent form at the event finishing just out of the medals in fourth in the Women’s Individual event and then teamed with Mathea Stevens (Ottawa, ON) to win bronze in the Women’s Relay. Mathea finished the individual event in 12th position.

On the men’s side Joshua Riker-Fox, recently returning to competition, showed he was in fine form with a fifth place finish in the Men’s Individual event to go along with the Mixed Relay gold. Other individual results on the men’s side went to Evin Ballantyne (Baden, ON) in 25th and Bob Noble (Coquitlam, BC) in 28th with these two joining forces in the Men’s Relay finishing in 8th position.

Reflecting on this event, with three impressive medals and other strong results to the credit of the team, National Coach John Hawes noted, “This was an excellent stepping stone with Senior World Championships coming up in September and looking ahead towards Pan Am Games 2015. Many great performances were had by all the athletes. The gold medal in the Mixed Relay capped off the weekend. It was a great finish to end the competition singing Oh Canada with the athletes from several Pan American nations in attendance.”

Brooklyn Snodgrass from Cascade wins Bronze Medal!!

Brooklyn won Bronze at the 2014 Commonwealth Games in Glasgow Scotland, today, in the Women’s 50m Backstroke with a time of 27.97 seconds! This is a new Canadian record!!

Tentative Aquatic Schedule for August 2-8 2014

Here is the link to our tentative aquatics schedule for Saturday August 2 to Friday August 8 2014:
https://drive.google.com/file/d/0B_i06kI_D5XWU005anROLXdnOGs/edit?usp=sharing

Canadian Pentathlon Athlete Nominated to Compete at the Nanjing 2014 Youth Olympic Games

CALGARY (July 26, 2014) – Pentathlon Canada is proud to announce that Kali Sayers of Calgary, Alberta has been nominated to represent Canada at the 2014 Youth Olympics Games in Nanjing, China from August 16th – 28th. Kali Sayers will be competing in the Women’s Modern Pentathlon which will take place on August 22nd and 23rd.

All attending athletes in the Modern Pentathlon competition will also take part in a Mixed Relay on August 26th where they will be randomly partnered with athletes of the opposite gender from another country for that day of competition. This is in line with the strong cultural mandate of the Youth Olympic Games.

Kali Sayers, 18, will be Canada’s first representative to qualify to compete at the Summer Youth Olympic Games, the first of which took place in Singapore in 2010. Kali will be accompanied by coach Jane Rusconi.

Kali is a four time Canadian National Champion in her age group (18 and Under) as well as winning the US Youth Nationals in her age group twice previously. She has represented Canada twice at Youth World Championships. Working under a tight timeline, having sustaining an unfortunate ankle injury in May, Kali’s goal is to be within the top 10 at the upcoming competition.

Participating at the Youth Olympics has been a prioritized goal for Kali for the past year where she managed Canada-best performances in all three key qualification and ranking events to achieve selection – Youth Olympic Qualifier, Acapulco, Mexico in December 2013, International Youth Classic, Colorado Springs in April followed by Youth World Championships in May 2014.

“I am thrilled to have this opportunity to represent Canada on the international stage at the Youth Olympics. It is an honour to represent my country and to be the first pentathlete at the Youth Olympics for Canada. Of course, this wouldn’t have had a chance of happening if not for the help of many incredible people.”, says Sayers. “Nanjing here I come!”

Modern Pentathlon has been an Olympic sport since 1912 with women competing at the Olympic level for first time in Sydney in 2000. Pentathlon consists of five sports completed within four events – fencing, swimming, equestrian riding, and combined event (running and pistol shooting). At the youth level the equestrian component is not included internationally for safety reasons so athletes at the Youth Olympics will be contesting the fencing, swimming and combined event only. Pentathlon will be part of the Toronto 2015 Pan Am Games including Men’s, Women’s and Mixed Relay events.

PENTATHLON CANADA

Pentathlon Canada governs the sport of pentathlon in Canada, supporting our provincial associations and national team athletes in building a supportive environment for our sport. Pentathletes compete in five sports – fencing, swimming, equestrian riding, and a combined run and shoot – in a one-day competition.

MEDIA CONTACTS

Shaun LaGrange
President
Pentathlon Canada
president@pentathloncanada.ca

Jane Almeida
Senior Manager, Media Relations
Canadian Olympic Committee
jalmeida@olympic.ca

Luc Beaudin
Coordinator, Communications and Media Relations
Canadian Olympic Committee
lbeaudin@olympic.ca

ALBERTA’S EMILY WAGNER QUALIFIES FOR 2014 YOUTH OLYMPIC GAMES

Congratulations to Emily Wagner of Calgary who has qualified to represent Canada in Triathlon at the Youth Olympic Games in Nanjing, China in August 2014. Wagner secured a spot on the team by finishing third in the Pan American triathlon qualification event held on the 2nd May 2014 in Monterrey, Mexico.

Sixteen year-old Wagner entered her first triathlon race in June 2013 in Calgary and rapidly established herself as one of the top junior triathletes in the country by winning the Canada Summer Games triathlon competition in August 2013. In her first race of 2014, she performed strongly against competitors from all over the America's to secure her first podium result in an international competition.

"I'm very excited and proud to have qualified to represent Canada at the Youth Olympic Games in Nanjing", said Wagner.

"This was my first international race and although I'm pleased with the outcome, there are still areas I know I can improve on and I'm excited to start working on them. I appreciate all the people and organizations that have supported me and helped me reach this goal."

The Canadian Sport Institute Calgary has supported Wagner's development by providing sport science and sport medicine support to her through its Athlete Development Project.

"The Athlete Development Project was set up to identify talented young athletes like Emily so that we can guide their long term development", said Paula Jardine the Canadian Sport Institute Calgary Talent Development Manager. "By providing expert sport science support now when her body is still maturing and highly malleable we are building a solid platform for performance that will enhance her potential for sustained success in future Olympic Games."

About the Canadian Sport Institute Calgary Athlete Development Project
The Athlete Development Project is an initiative of the Canadian Sport Institute Calgary whose objective is to identify and develop athletes with the potential to achieve medal success at World and Olympic level.

For more information, please contact:

Paula Jardine
Talent Development Manager
pjardine@csicalgary.ca
c. 403.819.1960

Volunteer opportunities available at Ironman 70.3 on July 27

As the official training centre of Ironman 70.3 Calgary, we are excited to cheer on all the race participants, welcome them to our facility for the race package pick up over the next 3 days and support them in any way we can. The committee has asked if we can help entice more volunteers to help out – especially on the bike loop as marshals. So anyone that is free this Sunday, July 27^th, if you have some time please check out the link below or contact Scott Allan for volunteer opportunities. Plus you receive a stylish t-shirt!

Volunteer by following this link:

http://www.doitsports.com/volunteer2/info.tcl?job_id=35606553

or contact: 

Scott Allan, 403 899 5559, sallan@swagelok.com

The bike course goes from Auburn Bay in the SE, West to Bragg Creek and back into Calgary on Highway 22X. Position start times range from 6:00 AM through to 9:00 AM and end at 7:30AM to 1:00PM

Tentative Aquatic Schedule for July 26 - August 1 2014

Here is the link to our tentative aquatics schedule for Saturday July 26 to Friday August 1 2014:
https://drive.google.com/file/d/0B_i06kI_D5XWbHVvTWhWcV9wODA/edit?usp=sharing

Alberta athletes ready to take on the Commonwealth

Calgary, AB. - A delegation of 28 athletes with an affiliation to Alberta, led by opening ceremony flagbearer and shooting legend Susan Nattrass (Edmonton) will be vying for gold beginning this week at the 2014 Commonwealth Games in Glasgow, Scotland.
The Canadian Sport Institute Calgary provides support to a dozen athletes within the Alberta contingent, competing in five different sports (Cycling, Diving, Artistic Gymnastics, Swimming and Wrestling). Leading the way is gold medal favourite and current world number one Erica Wiebe in Wrestling.
Other Canadian Sport Institute Calgary supported athletes to watch are two-time IPC world medallist para-swimmer Morgan Bird; eighteen year old Yuri Kisil, who became the youngest Canadian swimmer to break the 50 seconds mark in the 100m Free; and Vincent De Haître, a 2014 winter Olympian in Long Track Speed Skating who recently traded his skates for a set of pedals and will make his international cycling debut in Glasgow.
Athletes have relied on the invaluable support of 24 Alberta coaches including four that have been officially named team coaches: Jeffery White (Badminton), Jason Woodnick (Artistic Gymnastics), Paul Ragusa and Leigh Vierling (Wrestling).
Commonwealth Games Canada (CGC) announced last week that Canada will field a total team of 265 athletes, competing in 16 out of the 17 sports on the Glasgow 2014 Games programme (all sports except netball). It is the largest team ever fielded by the CGC for Commonwealth Games not held on Canadian soil.
The Glasgow 2014 Commonwealth Games will be held from July 23rd to August 3rd, 2014, and will be the largest ever multi-sport event held on Scottish soil.
Click HERE for a complete list of Alberta athletes and coaches.
About the Canadian Sport Institute Calgary
The Canadian Sport Institute provides world-leading Olympic and Paralympic training environments to elite athletes and coaches across Alberta. With the support of our partners, our team of experts delivers sport science and medicine, coaching and life services to power podium performances and help Canada win more medals.
For more information
Annie Gagnon
Manager, Communications
T : 403-220-8195
E-mail: agagnon@csicalgary.ca

We're Looking for an Event Timing Technology Specialist - On-Call

http://www.talismancentre.com/images/current_opportunities/EventTimingTechnologySpecialistOn-Call-Apr2014.pdf

Tentative Aquatic Schedule for July 19-25 2014

Here is the link to our tentative aquatics schedule for Saturday July 19 to Friday July 25 2014:
https://drive.google.com/file/d/0B_i06kI_D5XWQTdGQm9NR1hqbjQ/edit?usp=sharing

Tentative Aquatic Schedule for July 12-18 2014

Here is the link to our tentative aquatics schedule for Saturday July 12 to Friday July 18 2014:
https://drive.google.com/file/d/0B_i06kI_D5XWRTdsRFIwbk1Fa0k/edit?usp=sharing

Morgan Bird: An Inspiration In and Out of the Pool

Canada's Commonwealth Games Team could not find a better spokesperson than Calgary's Morgan Bird. The 20-year-old member of the Cascade Swim Club is already a team veteran, having competed in the London Paralympic Games and finishing just off the podium in three different events. At the Commonwealth Games in Glasgow, Morgan will be focusing on one event, the 100m Freestyle that will take place on July 25th.
Born with cerebral palsy affecting her left side, Morgan began swimming at the age of 11 after trying the sport at a rookie camp. Coaches immediately saw her potential and told her that she could have a promising future in swimming. Morgan and her mother began traveling for competitions, and found inspiration in the other para-athletes.
One memory in particular stuck with both Morgan and her mother. At her first Can-Am Games, she remembers watching the athletes that were severely disabled. Morgan sites one athlete in particular as being inspirational, who had only one limb and needed to touch the wall with his head. She remembers thinking, "maybe I don't have it as hard as I think I do."
That moment has stayed with Morgan throughout her career. Morgan aims to spread her message of hope and persistence to others who are dealing with struggles and setbacks. To help overcome her shyness, Morgan has taken a public speaking course, with facilitator and six-time wrestling World Champion Christine Nordhagen, one of many life services workshops offered through the Canadian Sport Institute Calgary.
Embracing leadership roles to challenge, inspire, empower, and encourage is one of the main values of the Canadian Sport Institute. Life services programs such as the public speaking workshop provide athletes with the tools needed to do just that. The speaking workshops focus on ways that athletes can act as community leaders - a class that Morgan says "really helped me to get myself together." Athletes are then able to go out to schools and speak about their experiences in sport.
In the last year alone, the Canadian Sport Institute Calgary conducted 40 school presentations, visiting with 7980 young Albertans. The Canadian Sport Institute also helps athletes expand their public speaking engagements to include businesses and corporations.
After going through the Canadian Sport Institute Calgary's public speaking workshop, Morgan has been able to focus on her message outside of the pool. "I hope that I can inspire people to go for their dreams and not let anything stop them. I've had a lot of obstacles throughout my life to get where I am and I wouldn't be able to do it without my support system both at the Canadian Sport Institute and my family and friends. I hope that they take my story and use it as an inspiration."
There is no doubt that no matter what her results are in Glasgow and beyond, Morgan will make a difference in the lives of many.
Stay in the loop!
Morgan Bird: @birdie993
Canadian Sport Institute Calgary: @csicalgary
Writer Brittany Schussler: @bschussler

Article from the Canadian Sport Institute Newsletter

Tentative Aquatic Schedule for July 5-11 2014

Here is the link to our tentative aquatics schedule for Saturday July 5 to Friday July 11 2014:
https://drive.google.com/file/d/0B_i06kI_D5XWRVlXQUpqeVZJaTQ/edit?usp=sharing