CANADA WINS GOLD AND SILVER AT COMMONWEALTH WATER POLO CHAMPIONSHIPS

MANCHESTER, UK--Ted Bader scored with only 35 second remaining in regulation time to lift Canada to a thrilling 6-5 victory on Sunday over the favoured Australians for the gold medal in men's competition at the Commonwealth water polo championships in Manchester. Australia turned the tables in the women's final beating Canada 6-5 for the gold.

Vladimir Cosic in action at the World Championships last year in Japan. Reuters/Kimimi Sayama

In the men's final, Canada called a time-out in the final minute and after a series of passes Bader fired the winner against the Australians who are ranked 10th in the world to 14th for Canada. The Australians swarmed the Canadian zone in the dying seconds and clear shot for Tim Neesham went wide of Canadian goalie Garrett Head. Dusan Lazaravic, Canada's top scorer in the tournament with 10 goals, scored twice with singles to Vladimir Cosic, Thomas Marks and Nathaniel Miller. Miller was named the top player in the men's tournament.

In the women's final, Canada was clinging to a 5-4 lead with less than seven minutes remaining but couldn't hang on against the Olympic champions. Yvette Higgins, the tournament's top scorer, registered the tying goal with 5:25 left then fired the winner with 2:36 remaining. Waneek-Horn Miller, scored twice to lead the Canadian attack with singles to Sandra Lize, and Christi Bardecki - who provided Canada a 5-4 lead, and Joanne Begin.

" We played hard against a seasoned Australian squad," said Canadian coach Ahmed El-Awadi. "We hadn't played since August but the girls displayed a high skill level." CanSport

SHORT TRACKERS WIN SILVER & BRONZE AT WORLD TEAM CHAMPIONSHIPS

WEST ALLIS, USA--Canada won the silver medal in men's competition and the bronze in women's competition Saturday at the short track speed skating world team championships.

China took the gold in men's competition with 36 points while Canada, the two-time defending world champions, had to settle for silver with 34 points. The Canadian team competed without triple Olympic champion Marc Gagnon of Montreal who has been swamped with media and corporate interest since the Games last month in Salt Lake City. Top spot came down to the 5,000-metre relay final. China placed first in 7:03.998, the Canadians who had a solid lead after 20 laps settled for second in 7:04.042 and South Korea was also battling for first and was third in 7:04.053.

Amelie Goulet-Nadon falls as Marie-Eve Drolet continues in the women's 3000m at the World Team Championships. AP/Darren Hauck

"We just made too many mistakes in the relay," said Canadian national team coach Guy Thibault of Montreal. "We had a bad exchange and another skater nearly fell. But the guys raced to win and really it's hard to say we would have done much better with Marc in the line-up. The guys did their job."

At the team World Championships, countries race heats in the 500, 1,000 and 3,000 metres as well as the relay, earning points for placings in each race.

In women's competition, South Korea were the winners with 32 points, China was second at 25 and the Canadians repeated as bronze medallist with 24. The top performers for Canada were Amelie Goulet-Nadon of Laval, Que., with a win in her 500 and Marie-Eve Drolet of Chicoutimi, Que., second in her 1,000 and 3,000. Tania Vicent of Montreal was second in her 500 and third in her 1,000, Annie Perreault of Rock Forest, Que., second in her 500 and Alanna Kraus of Abbotsford, B.C., second in her 1,000 and third in her 500.

"We're really seeing a lot of improvements on our women' s team," said Thibault. "We had some bad luck in some races that cost us some big points."

Next week the short track speed skating season concludes with the World Individual Championships at the Maurice-Richard Arena in Montreal April 5-7.

CANADIAN WOMEN WIN TOURNAMENT OF THE AMERICAS

COCHABAMBA, BOL--Canadian women made history over the weekend as they captured first place, for the first time ever, at the Tournament of the Americas Pan Am Games Trials in Bolivia.

The title came down to the doubles final against the home-town Bolivian team. The Bolivians squeaked into the final with an 11-10 tiebreaker win over the Venezuelan team, while in the other semi final match the Canadians knocked off the top-seeded Americans with a decisive 15-5, 15-12 win.

Lori-Jane Powell

Canada's Lori Jane Powell (Calgary) and Karina Odegard (Saskatoon) were definitely in the hot seat with hundreds of noisy excited Bolivians screaming for their team of Nunez and Santos. In a match that clearly could have gone either way, the Canadians won 15-14, 15-14. In singles play, Josee Grand'maitre (Longueuil) had to settle for second place with a 15-6, 15-11 loss to Laura Fenton (USA). Grand'Maitre's phenomenal 11-9 tiebreaker win in the semi finals over Rhonda Raisich (USA) on Friday was a hard-fought battle that took its toll on both players. Raisich won the third place medal with a victory over Jen Saunders (Winnipeg).

In men's play, Canada's national champion Kane Waselenchuk (Edmonton), captured the gold when he defeated Javier Moreno (Mexico) 15-5, 14-15, 11-8 in another nail-biter. Moreno was having the tournament of his life (with wins over Canadian Brian Istace and American junior phenom Jack Huczek) until he was stopped by Waselenchuk. But Waselenchuk, who suffered a knee injury earlier in the week, was able to pull his own game together and get the job done.

STONE STRIKES GYMNASTICS GOLD IN EDMONTON

EDMONTON--Kylie Stone won two gold medals over the weekend at the Wild Rose International Invitational women's gymnastics competition in Edmonton.

Stone, the 14-year-old Canadian junior champion, earned her second gold medal of the meet on Sunday with a superb routine on the beam, scoring 9.425 points. Yekaterina Privalova, a member of the second place Russian team at the world championships last year, was second at 9.000. "I was very confident on the beam," said Stone, also the all around champion on Saturday night. "I was a little surprised that I won. It was important for me to do well here in front of the national team coaches so they could see my progress."

Stone added a third medal on floor tying for second with Privalova at 8.926. Canada and Russia tied for the most medals with five each at the competition. "To finish with the same number of medals as the Russians is worth celebrating and is great news for us," said Lise Gosselin-Simard, women's program director for Gymnastics Canada. "We're not totally surprised because we came in well prepared and then competed very well." CanSport

SHOULDICE, BUSHFIELD RETURN HOME AS INTERNATIONAL YOUTH CHAMPIONS

CALGARY, AB--Warren Shouldice and Rory Bushfield, both members of Canada's National Freestyle Development Team, returned home last week after each winning gold medals at the 2002 FIS Freestyle International Youth Championships, held at the Iso-Syöte ski area in Finland.

In the men's aerials event, Shouldice - a member of the FlightSchool aerials development team - scored a two-jump total of 188.86 to take first place ahead of Igor Ishutko of the Ukraine (185.21 points) and Vladimir Lebedev of Russia (182.47). There was strong representation from some of the other powerful and emerging aerials nations, including the United States, Belarus, Switzerland and Russia.

Bushfield matched the feat in men's moguls, winning the title of International Youth Champion with a score of 25.61 points. Taking silver and bronze were two Americans, Jordan Chiovarelli and Ryan Hickey, who earned 25.37 and 25.35 points respectively. Chiovarelli led the way in the qualifying round with a score of 25.92, compared to Bushfield's first-run mark of 23.84. But the Canadian, starting 9th in the final, put down a solid run that none of the remaining skiers could match.

The performances of both Bushfield and Shouldice were even more remarkable considering they were the only Canadians competing in the championships. Shouldice was also recently named to Canada's National World Cup Aerial Team for 2002-2003. He will be driving out to Lake Placid, New York at the beginning of May to train with the team at the water ramp there until it freezes up in late October.

HARTLEY WINS NCAA DIVING TITLES

Blythe Hartley competing at the NCAA Championships.

AUSTIN, Tex--Blythe Hartley, the current World Champion in the 1m springboard, won the platform and 1m springboard titles at the 2002 NCAA Women's Swimming and Diving Championships at the Jamail Texas Swim Center in Austin, Texas, on March 23. Hartley, who is currently a freshman at USC, became the first NCAA women's diver ever to win both the 1m springboard and the platform in the same NCAA Championships. Hartley placed third in the 3m. "I am really pleased with what I did all-around. It was very consistent," said Hartley, whose 56 individual points were third-best of the meet. "It's been an exhausting week and I'm very tired, but I'm very happy with the results. It's almost an endurance competition. I could have been better tonight, but considering the circumstances, I have no complaints."

NEWS CLIP: Andy Osadetz, 14, finished 9th on the K90 and 5th on the K120 at the US National Championships in Steamboat, Colorado last week. The US team is quite strong so Andy's results in the K120 are something to be proud of. He finished ahead of 5 or 6 athletes who competed in the Olympics in either ski jumping or nordic combined.

IN THE NEWS.....

LE MAY DOAN NAMED ATHLETE OF THE YEAR

TORONTO, ON--The Spirit of Sport Foundation (SSF) officially announced the winners for the 29th Annual Canadian Sport Awards (CSA), presented by Investors Group, at a gala event at the Canadian Broadcasting Centre in Toronto, Ontario last week.

The 29th Annual Canadian Sport Awards gala event brought together more than 700 leaders from the sporting and corporate communities who represent the pinnacle of commitment and competition:Canadian amateur athletes, coaches, sport leaders and volunteers. Among the winners, Catriona Le May Doan took home honours for Female Athlete of the Year, while Roland Green was awarded the Male Athlete of the Year. The Pair of the Year Award went to Jamie Salé and David Pelletier and the Male Team of the Year was awarded to the Short Track Speed Skating Team, lead by Marc Gagnon.

Athletes of the Year - Catriona Le May Doan and Roland Green. CP/Aaron Harris

"On behalf of the entire sport community, I offer my sincere congratulations to our amateur sport heroes who have been selected as winners for the 29th Annual Canadian Sport Awards," said the Honourable Paul DeVillers, Secretary of State, Amateur Sport. "Their determination and perseverance are not only a source of inspiration to members of the sport community, but more importantly to all Canadians."

For more information on the 29th Annual Canadian Sport Awards, visit the Spirit of Sport Foundation's web site.

BILL WARREN NAMED NEW CHANCELLOR OF THE U OF C

CALGARY, AB--Mr. William (Bill) Warren Q.C. was elected the 10th chancellor of the University of Calgary on March 22, 2002.

Mr. Warren is a Calgary lawyer with a long history of volunteer involvement. He recently retired as president of the Canadian Olympic Association, having served with them in a variety of roles since 1989. The Calgary Olympic Development Association (CODA) also benefited from his participation as director for many years. He is to be inducted into the Olympic Order later this year, a testament to his many years of service to the Olympic movement, prior to, including and since the Calgary games. He has served three years as a member of the U of C Senate. Mr. Warren will serve as Chancellor from June 14th, 2002 for one four-year term.

The chancellor serves as the ceremonial head of the university. The incumbent chairs the Senate and is a member of the Board of Governors. The chancellor confers the degrees of the University at convocation and is mandated by the Universities Act to represent the public interest.

CSCC Board of Directors Secretary/Treasurer Greg Greenough, was recently inducted in to the Edmonton Sports Hall of Fame. The induction dinner will take place in June.

CBC SPORTS ONLINE ANNOUNCES FUNDS RAISED FROM
2002 OLYMPIC CHARITY AUCTION

TORONTO, ON--Three, two, one, zero....auction closed! CBC Sports Online and the Canadian Olympic Association announced last week that the COA will receive approximately $35,000 in support of Canadian amateur athletes as a result of the CBC 2002 Charity Auction.

This auction gave Olympic enthusiasts the opportunity to bid on signed Canadian Olympians' jerseys and memorabilia available exclusively from the Canadian Olympic Association. "We had terrific success with this auction, especially considering it was our first," said Andrew Lundy, CBC Sports Online's senior producer. "Canadians placed almost 5,000 bids on more than 150 items, and it all helped raise money for athletes."

"It's great to see the fans supporting their Olympic Team, because that's where the money goes -- to COA athlete programs," said Karen Purdy, Chairperson, COA Athletes' Council. "The success of this on-line auction is an excellent barometer of how popular our Canadian Olympians are with the public."

The proceeds of the CBC Charity Auction will be provided to the Canadian Olympic Association funding programs, including the COA Athlete Grant Program, the National Sport Federation Grant Program, the National Sport Centres and the Canadian Olympic Team in Salt Lake City.

ATHLETE IN PROFILE:
Nathaniel Miller - Water polo
By CSCC Practicum student - Kristy Brown

"I'm a big eater," says Nathaniel Miller, a six foot two inch member of the national water polo team, as he divides the two plates of breakfast he's ordered into just eggs on one and four pieces of toast and hashbrowns on the other. I guess it's good breakfast is cheap, I think to myself because I had already decided beforehand that I'd pay.

Nathaniel should be eating a lot - with 9 to 10 workouts a week, plus three more times in the gym for weights, his body needs adequate energy supplies. Add in his full-time course load in history at the University of Calgary and the time he spends coaching a Calgary boys club team of 12 and 13 year-olds, and it's no wonder he suggested a breakfast interview.

This 22 year-old from the West Island in Montreal, came to Calgary in 1998 to play for the national junior men's water polo team. He hasn't left since, and he's now been with the national senior men's team for four years. Like most athletes, however, his beginnings were humble. He began swimming at age 10 and starting playing water polo two years later at a community club pool. "I was a terrible swimmer, so my parents suggested water polo instead," he says.

Nathaniel is now a veteran and key performer on the national team. At the Pan Am Games in Winnipeg in 1999, his team won the bronze medal. "That was definitely a team highlight for me," he says. As a player, however, the accomplishment he is most proud of thus far came at the 2001 World Championships in Japan. Although Canada finished 15th out of 16 teams, Nathaniel finished as the second highest scorer on the team.

If this were Europe, Nathaniel's name would probably be synonymous with Mario Lemieux or Curtis Myden. Unfortunately, water polo is not a high profile sport in North America, and funding in the sport is hard to come by. The team even has to resort to using the public swimming lane at a local pool three nights a week because it can't afford to rent out its own space. Nathaniel hopes that all will change after 2005, when Montréal plays host to the World Championships. "That's my biggest personal goal - to have our team do well in front of my family and friends."

Nathaniel in action at the World Championships last year in Japan. Reuters/Kimimi Sayama

There is one small piece of business to clear up beforehand - Nathaniel and Team Canada will be aiming to qualify for a spot in the 2004 Athens Olympics. He feels this is key to the exposure of the sport in Canada, and inspiring young athletes to take up the game.

Upon graduation next year, Nathaniel hopes to pursue the professional leagues in Europe, particularly Spain. He feels this will be key in enabling him to hone his skills in preparation for Olympic qualifying. Eventually, he would like to pursue a career with some involvement in the sporting world. "Coaching is definitely a passion for me."

UPDATE: Nathaniel was recently named the top player at the Commonwealth Water Polo Championships where Canada took the gold medal.