Blythe Hartley (CP Photo)

Divers named to to team for July World Championships.
(Canadian Sport News)

LONDON, Ont.-Emilie Heymans of St-Lambert, Que., will defend her world crown on women’s 10-metre at next month’s world championships after winning the event Sunday at the Summer Nationals and world team trials in diving. Myriam Boileau of Pointe-Claire, Que., gains the second world team berth in the event while Filion had already earned a spot on the women’s 10-metre synchronized tower.

Last month, Heymans suffered an arm injury in training and was forced to withdraw from the Grand Prix event in Montreal. She made her return to competition the following weekend at the Grand Prix in Florida and won despite replacing her reverse three and half dive on her list because of the pain it inflicted on her arm. She reinserted the dive to her list this weekend.

“That dive had been going very well in practice this week,” said Heymans, a two-time Olympic medallist. “I was still feeling pretty nervous about it but I knew I was fully prepared going in. What’s also very positive for me is I felt no pain in my arm this weekend. It’s completely healed. Now my goal is to prepare and train to deliver the performance of my life at the worlds.”

On men’s three-metre, Alexandre Despatie of Laval overcame a shaky preliminary round to win the gold medal. Arturo Miranda of Pointe-Claire, Que., was second at 1,093.47 and Philippe Comtois of Laval, Que., third. Despatie and Miranda gain the world team spots in the event.

On women’s three-metre, Blythe Hartley dominated the final earning her second berth to the World Championships after also winning the one-metre on Thursday. Melanie Rinaldi of Montreal was second and also gains a spot on the world team.

Hartley, 22, is considered a medal contender in both springboard events at the worlds with one of the toughest lists in international competition. At the Athens Olympics she was fifth on three-metre and won a bronze medal with Emilie Heymans of St-Lambert, Que., on synchronized 10-metre. “A couple of things could have been better but overall I’m pleased with it,” said Hartley, who won the NCAA three-metre title this winter for the University of Southern California. “I’ve kept the same list as last year, there are few divers that can equal its difficulty. But I definitely have a lot to work on before worlds.”

On men’s 10-metre tower, 17-year-old Wegadesk Gorup-Paul of Victoria, a First Nations Mic Mac whose first name means Northern Lights, won the gold medal and earned a berth on the world team with Nicolas Leblanc of Montreal in second.

The Canadian diving team for the 2005 World Aquatic Championships July 17-31 in Montreal is now set.

The men’s team members are: Despatie and Reuben Ross of Edmonton on one-metre, Despatie and Miranda on three-metre, Wegadesk Gorup-Paul of Victoria and Nicolas Leblanc of Montreal on 10-metre, Miranda and Philippe Comtois of Laval on synchronized three-metre and Gorup-Paul and Riley McCormick of Victoria on synchronized 10-metre.

The women’s team members are Blythe Hartley of Victoria and Dale on one-metre, Hartley and Melanie Rinaldi of Montreal on three-metre, Heymans and Boileau on 10-metre, Dale and Moran on synchronized three-metre and Filion and Meaghan Benfeito of Montreal on synchronized 10-metre.

Sherraine MacKay

Sherraine MacKay wins bronze medal at Barcelona Grand Prix.
(Canadian Fencing Federation)

BARCELONA – In the largest World Cup turn-out of the year (161 fencers), epee fencer Sherraine MacKay of Brooks, Alta., won the bronze medal eventually losing 15-8 to the gold medallist Anna Sivkova of Russia.

Earlier in the day MacKay disposed of half the Romanian team with solid wins over Loredana Iordachioiu 15-10 and Anca Bacioiu 15-11. Her next match was a comeback victory as she squeaked by Ukraine's Yana Shemyakina 15-13.

Sherraine's biggest moral victory may have come in the quarter-finals as she buried some old Athens Olympic ghosts defeating Jeanne Christou of Greece 15-12.

"It is about 10 months too late" she said after beating the girl who defeated her at the Olympics, "but at least it shows some clear progress, mentally and physically."

With two consecutive Grand Prix bronze medals, MacKay has moved up to fifth on the world cup rankings.

"Consistent performances are a sign of a maturing athlete and as I turn 30 in a few weeks I am pleased that I have something to show for my age!"

Anna Sivkova defeated Magdalena Grabowska from Poland 15-9 in the final while Danuta Dmowska also from Poland shared the bronze medal podium with MacKay.

Canada was well represented as 4 others finished in the top 64. Monique Kavelaars of Appin, Ont., finishing 39th, Julie Leprohon of Montreal finished 44 th, Ainsley Switzer from Toronto placed 56th while Calgary's Catherine Dunnette came 57 th.

Susan Natrass

IT'S BRONZE - AT 54! SUSAN NATRASS IS BACK AT WORLDS.
(The Edmonton Sun)

Susan Nattrass should have the old motto engraved on her rifle butt and tattooed on her, well, maybe not there. Somewhere. "I'm not as good as I once was but, once, I'm as good as I ever was.''

At age 54 - two years after it looked like her trapshooting career had blown up in her face at the Pan-Am Games in the Dominican Republic - Nattrass has returned with a bronze medal at the world championships. "Old Susan is back,'' declared the Edmonton shooter, who won six consecutive world women's trap championships way back when she wasn't "Old Susan'' in the non-Olympic years of 1974, 1975, 1977, 1978, 1979 and 1981.

In 2001, Nattrass shocked the shooting world by winning silver at the event. And now, with her 84-year-old mother in tow as coach after years of not being able to travel to watch her daughter compete because of health problems, the old-enough-to-be-a-grandmother Nattrass has shown them again.

"There were 61 women in the field,'' Nattrass said of the Worlds in Lonato, Italy.
"It was the biggest one ever. And it was neat that the three people on the podium were all former world champions,'' she added of gold-medal winner Deborah Gelisio of Italy and silver-medal winner Irina Laritcheva of Russia.

But the neatest thing, she said, was having her mom there coaching. "Mom uses a walker and because of her health hasn't been able to go with me in recent years. She'll be 85 in July and she loves Italy and she just decided she was going to go with me. "It was outstanding. I just loved seeing her there when I was shooting. She wasn't just there to watch, she was there to coach.

SHOOTING LOW
"She really helped me. At one point she picked up that I was shooting low and I made an adjustment with the gun.'' But it was in the final where having her mom there really paid off. "I made my first two shots and then missed three in a row,'' she said, admitting she felt like she was about to experience the Olympic final disaster all over again. "I looked at her and she made a motion my dad used to make to me,'' she said of her late international trap-shooting father Floyd. The motion was a little circle with her finger. "It was the little sign my father used to make to get me to speed up. I only missed two after that,'' she said.

Gelisio ended up with 91, Laritcheva 90 and Nattrass 89. Susanne Kiermayer of Germany ended up fourth with 86, Huke Ma of China 85, and Deserie Baynes of Australia, 81.

GUN BROKE
Two years ago Nattrass failed to qualify for the Athens Olympics when her gun broke in the middle of competition.

But the woman who broke the gender barrier at the Montreal Olympics and was the first to compete with the men - who is given credit for talking the IOC into creating a women's trap-shooting event - was given a quota spot by the international federation and approved by the Canadian Olympic Committee.

Many figured it was the perfect place for her to call it a career. But she couldn't. Not the way it worked out. It took her 53 years and five trips to get to a final at the Olympic Games. And then she gagged on it.

Nattrass was one shot short of an Olympic medal when the final six shooters took to the line at the Markopoulo Olympic range where the wind blew and she blew up. The Canadian athlete who was given the honour of walking in position 'A' on the outside corner of the first row in the opening ceremonies was on the verge of not only winning Canada's first medal at the XXVIII Games, but of becoming one of the very best stories of the Olympics. She missed shots 1, 4, 5, 6 and 8 and five more after that. It was difficult to write that a 53-year-old woman in their fifth Olympics choked. But that was the story.

Less than a year later in the same situation, she didn't. After her mom made that motion with her finger, she didn't allow any more misses to multiply. She got the medal.
So it's a go to next year's Commonwealth Games? Then another Pan-Ams? A sixth Olympics? At age 57? "After the Olympics I said one year at a time. That's what I'm doing. But I really enjoyed this.'' Where she stops, nobody knows.

KAren Cockburn (CP Photo)

Cockburn dethroned by MacLennan at gymnastics nationals.
(CBC Sports)

Rosannagh MacLennan ended Karen Cockburn's seven-year reign as national champion as she won the women's trampoline competition Wednesday to conclude the Canadian gymnastics championships in Vancouver.

MacLennan, from Toronto, totalled 103.00 points finishing ahead of Sarah Charles of Kelowna, B.C., in second at 100.3 and Brenna Casey of Toronto in third at 97.4. "It feels good, I did my routines well," said the 16-year-old MacLennan. "I really never thought about winning. It's very rare Karen makes a mistake. But she told me that I had a shot to win it. But I still tried to just focus on doing my best routine."

Cockburn, a medallist at the last two Olympic Games, made a major error in her optional routine in the preliminary round on Monday night, landing on the side of the trampoline and knocking herself out of contention. She finished sixth. "I was happy with how I came back today and got a strong score in the final," said the Toronto-based Cockburn, who'll look to defend her world crown later this year. "I had a bit of whiplash from the preliminaries and I didn't want to do anything to crazy with a World Cup coming up next week."

In men's trampoline, Bryan Milonja of St-Bruno, Que., earned his first Canadian senior title earning 110.60 points. Charles Thibault of Charlesbourg, Que., was second at 109.40 and Jason Burnett of Toronto third at 107.70. "I stayed in the middle and did a clean routine," said Milonja. "I'll need to work on more difficult skills for the world championships. My goal at the worlds is to put Canada in the top-five as a country."

In women's double mini trampoline, Charles, the world champion, took her third straight Canadian crown with 140.30 followed by Rose James of Burlington, Ont., in second at 132.00 and Jane Bickerstaffe of Vancouver third at 121.10. "I had a very solid first round and built myself a healthy lead," said Charles, now based in Toronto. "I did my usual routine but now for the world's I'll need to increase the difficulty if I want to keep my hopes alive to remain on top."

In men's double mini trampoline, Bob Watson of Calgary won the gold medal at 143.70 with Jamie Lange of Calgary second at 143.20 and David Girard of St-Hyacinthe, Que., third at 141.50. In tumbling, Denis Vachon of Burlington, Ont., won the gold at 141.40 with Cletus Okpoh of Vancouver second at 138.20 and Chris Donaldson of Burlington third at 130.80. In women's tumbling, Micki Pilson of Bolton, Alta., was the winner at 125.90 followed by Emily Smith of Burlington at 124.60 and Kim Cameron of Calgary at 119.10.

The Canadian team for the world trampoline and tumbling championships will be finalized over the next week based on performances at the Canadian championships, last month's Canada Cup and the first team trials in April.

courtesy Canadian Sport News

Ann Dow (CP Photo)

CAMO and Calgary win Tier 1 Canadian Water Polo League finals.
(WaterPolo Canada)

MONTREAL- The Calgary Torpedoes and Montreal’s Club CAMO won the men’s and women’s championship games respectively on Sunday at the Tier 1 Canadian Water Polo League finals which featured many of Canada’s top players who’ll compete here at the 2005 World Aquatic Championships next month.

In the men’s final, Vladimir Cosic scored seven goals to lead Calgary to a 10-8 victory over CAMO. In round robin competition, CAMO had gone undefeated at 3-0 to qualify directly to the final while Calgary was 1-2 and needed to beat Regina Squids 13-11 Sunday morning in a semifinal to advance to the championship game.

Also scoring for Calgary in the final were Kent Hardisty, Steven Ardell and Nathaniel Miller. Yannick Lizé scored three times for CAMO, Simon Poitras added two with singles to Robert Clark, Denis Larose and Islam Touni.

Vancouver’s Pacific Storm defeated Regina 12-11 for the bronze.

Joining Cosic on the tournament all star team were Lizé, Miller, Touni, Kevin Graham of Regina and Kevin Mitchell of Vancouver. Cosic was named the tournament MVP, Alexandre Thibeault of CAMO was named the top goalie and John Csikos of Calgary the top coach.

In the women’s championship game, CAMO defeated the Hydres de Québec 8-6. The Hydres also completed the round robin at 3 -0 to advance directly to the final while CAMO was 2-1. In Sunday’s semifinal, CAMO defeated Pacific Storm 11-9.

In the final, Kristina Alogbo, Sandra Lizé, Ann Dow and Whitney Genoway scored two goals each for CAMO. Alexandra Dionne replied with two for Quebec with singles to Marie-Christine Lebeau, Jana Salat, Valérie Dionne and Joanne Bégin

Dollard-des-Ormeaux, Que., defeated Pacific Storm 8-1 for the bronze.

Tournament all star team members were Salat, Valérie Dionne, Bégin, Alogbo, Dominique Perreault of CAMO and Rosanna Tomiuk of Dollard-des-Ormeaux. Alogbo was named the tournament MVP, Rachel Riddell of Pacific Storm the top goalie and Daniel Berthelette of CAMO the top coach.

Meanwhile at Dollard-des-Ormeaux at the Tier II Canadian Water Polo League Finals, Hamilton defeated Toronto 9-3 for the men’s gold medal while Ottawa defeated Cotes-des-Neiges, Que., 8-7 for the bronze and Quebec Hydres defeated Dollard-des-Ormeaux 14-12 for fifth.

On the women’s side, Calgary defeated Dollard-des-Ormeaux II 8-3 for the gold, the Winnipeg Neptunes beat York 11-10 for the bronze and Hamilton beat Ottawa 10-5 for fifth.

The men’s all star team members were David Jones and Ted Bader of Hamilton, Jamie Earle of Ottawa, Dusan Lazerovich of Toronto, Kevin Carroll of Dollard-des-Ormeaux and Israel Therrien of Cotes-des-Neiges. Bader was name the MVP, Nic Youngblood of Hamilton the top goalie and Quinn Fairley of Hamilton the top coach.

The women’s all star members were Janis Pardy, Cora Campbell and Alison Braden of Calgary, Katie Monton and Steph Valin of Dollard-des-Ormeaux and Julia Brooks of Winnipeg. Campbell was named the MVP, Christina Bergen of Winnipeg the top goalie and Chris Hammer of Calgary the top coach.

Calgary Ski Jumps

Ski Jumping and nordic combined get temporary funding.
(CBC Sports)

For Canadian athletes like Jason Myslicki and Gregory Baxter, every bit of funding helps. And now they'll have some crucial training money for their respective sports as they prepare for the 2006 Torino Winter Games.

The Calgary Olympic Development Association (CODA) announced Tuesday that it will fund the costs of improving and operating training facilities for nordic combined and ski jumping from June through October.

CODA will spend a total $190,000 this summer for immediate upgrades and operations at Canada Olympic Park in Calgary, but after that, both sports will be on their own.

Even though it's a short-term fix, the funding is good news for Myslicki, a nordic skier, and Baxter, a ski jumper. Both athletes have reached Olympic standards for the 2006 Winter Games in Turin, Italy. The news comes less than a year after CODA decided to withdraw as the major sponsor of the two winter sport federations.

"We thought it was the fair thing to do out of the respect for the effort these athletes have put in for the past seven or eight years," said CODA president John Mills. "They're on the brink of Torino in 2006 and this provides them the opportunity to train this summer and give them the opportunity to put their best foot forward when they qualify," he said. Mills added that after October both federations would have to find their own financial support.

Myslicki, a 27-year-old from Thunder Bay, Ont., is the first Canadian nordic combined athlete to qualify for the Olympics since 1988 in Calgary. Nordic combined is an two-pronged event involving ski jumping and cross-country skiing.

Baxter, 15, along with fellow teenaged ski jumping teammates Stefan Read and Dominik Bafia, are aiming to become the first Canadian representatives in Olympic ski jumping since the 1992 Winter Games in Albertville, France.

Zardo slams brakes on CFL career: Citing personal reasons, bobsledder leaves camp.
(The Edmonton Journal)

EDMONTON - It didn't take Giulio Zardo long to slam the brakes on his football career. The world champion bobsledder was conspicuous by his absence at practice on Wednesday, a mere 72 hours after training camp kicked off for the Edmonton Eskimos.

First thing in the morning, head coach Danny Maciocia granted Zardo permission to leave for undisclosed personal reasons. By 2 p.m., Zardo's dorm at Concordia University College was cleared out, and team officials said he had left for the airport to board a plane back home to Montreal.

It's not clear if or when the 24-year-old will be back. His departure marks the end -- at least for now -- of an ambitious project to convert the former brakeman for Edmonton-born pilot Pierre Lueders into professional football player.

Maciocia took a chance on bringing Zardo to camp -- especially since he hadn't played a down of organized football in five years. "I can never be disappointed in Giulio Zardo," Maciocia said. "I worked as hard for him as I did for anybody. You can't keep them all, but at some point in time, I'm probably going to have to let go a few others. It's just the reality of the business and the position that I occupy."

Zardo's disappearance had nothing to do with his on-field performance, Maciocia said. Although he played linebacker in junior football, Zardo practised with the defensive linemen during camp.

While Zardo was clearly out-classed in positional drills, Maciocia said he couldn't wait to see the six-foot-two, 245-pounder on special teams in the first exhibition on June 10 against the Winnipeg Blue Bombers. That clearly won't happen now.

Zardo suffered a minor knee sprain at practice on Tuesday, but Maciocia said that had nothing to do with his departure. He will remain on the suspended list so the Eskimos maintain his playing rights. "It's nothing physical, put it that way," Maciocia said. "It's a personal matter. It's something he needs to address."

Zardo's promising bobsledding career stalled last December after he was involved in a scuffle with head coach Gerd Grimme at a World Cup meet in Austria. Media reports said Zardo pushed Grimme upon learning he was not nominated for the four-man team.

Zardo was suspended indefinitely and later quit the bobsled team all together -- leaving Lueders without his brakeman less than a year away from the Winter Olympics in Turin, Italy.
Lueders is visiting his parents in Edmonton this weekend. He had planned to quietly drop in on practice to watch his former sledmate in action from a distance -- although the two haven't spoken in months.

"He's a good kid," Lueders said from his home in Calgary. "Obviously he was a teammate of mine. I was hoping he would make it because he gave up bobsledding to be there. "Athletically, he's just so powerful and strong. I figured out that what he lacked in football experience, he would make up for in athletic ability."

It's not out of the question Zardo will return to the bobsled team, Lueders said. The pair placed fifth in the two-man bobsled at the 2002 Winter Olympics in Salt Lake City. "I haven't given it any thought, but I never close doors to anyone," Lueders said. "It doesn't matter who they are. I try not to burn bridges with people. I've had guys come and go before. It's not like it's uncommon."

Zardo could not be reached for comment on Wednesday, but he said last week that he was through with the Canadian bobsled team regardless of how he fared with the Eskimos.
"I hated what I was doing," he said. "Did you ever go to work every day and not enjoy what you were doing? Even though I was a world champion, I didn't enjoy what I was doing. The atmosphere was toxic. It was stressing me out. "When I said I was done with it, I meant that I'm done with it. It's over. Done. I'm finished with that chapter of my life."

Masters Games Short 600 Volunteers.

While security and medical services volunteers are needed, most of the unfilled volunteer positions involve simple jobs, such as road marshalling and operating water stations at one-day events like the half-marathon, triathlon and cycling races.

Individuals who wish to be a Games volunteer must be over the age of 12 and willing to make a 30-hour commitment (although the 30-hour requirement is flexible depending on the type of events people sign up for).

The 6th World Masters Games take place in Edmonton from July 22nd to 31st. Click http://www.2005worldmasters.com/ for more information or call the Games office at 822-2005.

“F” for School Physical Education Programs Not a Surprise.

(Ottawa) – The Canadian Association for Health, Physical Education, Recreation and Dance (CAHPERD) is not surprised by the dismal ranking that Canadian school Physical Education programs received on Canada’s Report Card on Physical Activity for Children and Youth that was released yesterday.

Over the last decade or more, CAHPERD has witnessed a serious decline in both the quality and quantity of school Physical Education programs due to a variety of issues, among them shrinking school budgets and increased pressure on the school curriculum. It is true that the majority of Canadian schools do not meet the national standard of 150 minutes per week of Physical Education and very few qualified Physical Education teaching specialists are employed at Canadian schools.

“What we are seeing is a generation of schools who do not recognize and value the critical importance of school Physical Education to the healthy development of children and youth,” says Garth Turtle, CAHPERD President. “As a result, very few Canadian students receive a quality Physical Education program and we are seeing the effects of this in the very low level of Canadian children that are deemed as physically active.”

CAHPERD has long advocated the important role of Physical Education in providing all students with the opportunity to develop the skills, knowledge, and attitudes that are needed to be physically active both now and in their future.

“Schools are the only institution that has the ability to reach every child,” says Mr. Turtle. “Politicians and School Administrators need to demonstrate their political will and ensure that schools have appropriate budgets and mandates, and are held accountable to providing every child and youth in Canada with quality Physical Education programs.”

Parents also have an important role to play. Although studies show that the majority of parents support quality, daily physical education, most parent assume that this is what is being provided. “Parents need to take the time to find out what is happening at their child’s school,” says Andrea Grantham, CAHPERD Director of Communications and Operations. “They need to ask how often their child is receiving physical education, who is teaching the subject, and how well are the outcomes of the Physical Education curriculum being met.”

CAHPERD has developed many resources and tools to help promote the importance and guide the implementation of quality Physical Education programs, including an online interactive School Physical Education Report Card (www.cahperd.ca), a new “What is the Relationship Between Physical Education and Physical Activity” information brochure, and “Time to Move – Time To Act” a new political lobbying document that has been sent to politicians and school administrators across Canada. These resources are available at www.cahperd.ca and print copies are available by request.

The Canadian Association for Health, Physical Education, Recreation and Dance (CAHPERD) is a national, charitable, voluntary-sector organization whose primary concern is to influence the healthy development of children and youth by advocating for quality health, physical education and sport experiences.

Is This an Olympic Sport?
(Sports Illustrated)

The IOC is voting on whether to eliminate some events and add others -- a contentious first step toward freshening up the Games

The first shot was fired in August 2002, at an International Olympic Committee meeting in Lausanne, Switzerland. It was a simple proposal by the IOC's Program Commission to improve the Summer Games by adding two of the world's most popular sports: golf and rugby. To make room, the commission recommended eliminating three existing Olympic sports: baseball, modern pentathlon and softball. That's when the trouble began.

The proposal stirred up such a hornet's nest that it never came to a vote three months later at an IOC session in Mexico City. The episode proved again that while the Olympic family has been terrific at broadening its program to include everything from taekwondo to circus events such as synchronized swimming and trampoline, it has been incapable of seriously considering whether those, or other sports, really belong in the Games. No sport has been removed from the Olympics since polo got the ax after the 1936 Games.

Consequently, the Summer Olympics have become supersized. Athlete participation has ballooned 63% in the last 20 years, from 6,802 in Los Angeles in 1984 to the record 11,099 in Athens last year (which exceeded the supposed limit of 10,500 that the IOC adopted three years ago). Seven sports were added in that span: table tennis and tennis (1988), badminton and baseball ('92), softball ('96) and taekwondo and triathlon (2000).

Hosting the Olympics has become so gargantuan a task that cities and countries can go deep into hock to hold them; IOC president Jacques Rogge has long been concerned that the size and cost have made it impossible for smaller, poorer nations ever to host the Games. Yet when faced with the prospect of voting out three small federations in Mexico City, delegate after delegate spoke passionately in their defense. In response, recalls Jim Easton, one of three U.S. representatives on the 116-member IOC, "President Rogge wisely said, 'Let's go back and look at all the sports, not just these three.'"

Read More at http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/2005/magazine/05/31/olympic.new0606/index.html

This unique event will be held at the Bearspaw Golf Club in Calgary on Monday, June 20th 2005.

The Tournament is a one-day event that is limited to 32 teams of golfers who have the opportunity to team-up with an Olympian and take on the beautiful Bearspaw course. Each team will be made up of 5 players -- 1 Olympian and 4 corporate team members. The tournament will be a texas scramble format. Each team will be invited to the Olympian Draft luncheon taking place immediately before the tournament to randomly select and meet their Olympian team-member.

After an afternoon of chasing tee-shots and draining putts you will enjoy a cocktail-style banquet and an opportunity to meet and listen to some outstanding Olympians. There will be a silent and live auction featuring many items such as golf vacations, restaurant experiences including the company of Olympians and priceless athlete autographed collectibles. On Monday June 20th, Tee off will be at 1:30, Registration and driving range will open at 12:00.
Call Colin Young at 210-5403 for more information.