SAY WINS BRONZE MEDAL AT MONTE CARLO MEET

MONTE CARLO (Canadian Sport News ) - Rick Say of Calgary won the bronze medal in the men's 400m freestyle Saturday while Morgan Knabe of Calgary advanced to the semifinals in opening day action on the Mare Nostrum swimming tour.

Rick Say at the World Championships

In the men's 400m freestyle, Dragos Coman of Romania won the gold medal clocking 3:54.01 followed by Mirko Mazzari of Italy second in 3:56.18 and Say, the Canadian record holder, who clocked 3:56.38 for his eighth career international medal. "Rick probably could have placed second in the race," said Say's coach Jan Bidrman. "He could have pushed it a bit more in the last 50 metres. But it was a very good performance considering this is an event in which the swimmers are not fully prepared."

In the men's 50m breaststroke, Knabe, who holds all the Canadian breaststroke records, advanced to the semifinals. He started the day clocking 29.31 for the fourth best time in the preliminaries, then posted the third best time in the round of 16 at 28.94 and clocked second in his quarterfinal at 29.30 to advance.

In the women's 50m backstroke, world short course champion Jennifer Carroll of Montreal was fourth in the prelims in 30.00 and first in her heat in the round of 16 at 29.63 . She placed third in her quarterfinal at 29.57.

Nina Zhivanevskaya of Russia posted the fastest times of the day with a 29.15 in the round of 16 and 29.17 in the quarterfinal.

The annual Mare Nostrum Tour is a four-meet series with the next stops in Rome June 4-5, Canet, France, June 8-9 and Barcelona June 11-12. Say, Knabe and Carroll are the only Canadians on the Tour.

BRUNET SWEEPS K-1 500M RACES IN RETURN TO COMPETITION

MONTREAL- Double Olympic silver medallist Caroline Brunet of Lac-Beauport, Que., swept both women's K-1 500m races Sunday in her first competition in 18 months at the Canadian national team trials in canoe and kayaking.

Brunet, 33, had been on a sabbatical for the past 18 months. She has moved back home from Europe where she trained for eight years in preparation for both the 1996 and 2000 Olympic Games. After her weekend performances Brunet appears to have rekindled her competitive spirit.

"I'm very motivated to train again and I'm looking forward to racing some more this season," said Brunet, who'll compete on the World Cup circuit later this summer. "But these were my toughest trials. I was very impressed by the calibre of the field."

Karen Furneaux of Waverley, N.S., the world champion in the K-1 200m last season, was second to Brunet in both races. She has set her sights for a world championship medal this summer in the K-1 500m, which is the Olympic event in women's kayak singles. She won 12 medals last season on the World Cup Circuit.

Olympic bronze medallist Steve Giles of Lake Echo, N.S., also looked impressive sweeping gold in the C-1 500m Sunday and the C-1 1,000m on Saturday. In Sunday's C-1 500m he finished ahead of Dimitri Joukovsky of Halifax in second place and Maxime Boilard of Lac-Beauport, fourth in the event at the Olympics, in third.

In other Paddling news, the first kayak slalom World cup of the season was held in China last weekend. David Ford from British Columbia, the 1999 K-1 World Champion, finished 3rd in the final with a total time of 194.87. Only two other participants were faster than him, Helmut Oblinger from Austria in 1st place (192.81 sec) and Benoit Peschier (194.57 sec) from France in 2nd.

DENYSE JULIEN HEADS TO HER SIXTH COMMONWEALTH GAMES

OTTAWA-Denyse Julien of Rouyn-Noranda, Que., is headed to her sixth consecutive Commonwealth Games as she leads a 10-member badminton squad announced today for the Games July 25-August 4, 2002 in Manchester, England.

The number of Commonwealth Games appearances is a Canadian record. Another badminton player Claire Sharpe of Victoria held the previous mark at five (1978-1994). Julien, who'll turn 42 on July 22, reached finals in singles and women's doubles at the Canadian championships earlier this month and is ranked first in Canada in women's doubles with her teenage partner Tammy Sun of Calgary and mixed doubles with William Milroy of Calgary. She'll also play singles in Manchester.

Denyse Julien, who trains in Calgary, is returning for a record-breaking sixth Commonwealth Games.

In her five Commonwealth Games appearances, Julien has collected seven medals in addition to 29 national titles and nine world championship appearances. "I'm a big fan of the Commonwealth Games, it's a very tough competition," said Julien, in her 21st season on the national team, all spent in Calgary. "Malaysia and England are among the world's best and we have strong rivalries with Australia and New Zealand." Both Sun and Milroy are also on the team along with 2000 Olympians, Kara Solmundson of Winnipeg, Robbyn Hermitage of Montreal and Milaine Cloutier of Granby, Que.

Julien feels her best medal shot is in mixed doubles with Milroy. They have played together for the past year. But she is also enthusiastic about playing with Sun, who at 17 is regarded as one of Canada's best potentials in doubles.

"Tammy is going to be a great player but she hasn't reached her physical peak yet," said Julien. "She's a very intelligent player who has a talent to anticipate plays."

Joining Milroy on the men's squad is his brother Bob Milroy, Stefan Wojcikiewicz of Ottawa, Keith Chan of Calgary and Philippe Bourret of Montreal.

Canada's Chef de Mission is amazed by Julien's ability to maintain herself among the word's best in a sport which requires a very high fitness level.

"This is Denyse's final Commonwealth Games and I hope she can get a medal," said McGregor. "What she has achieved in the sport is truly incredible and an inspiration for all Canadian athletes. Her presence is really going to motivate the rest of the team."

Julien has announced that she plans to retire after the 2003 Pan Am Games.

COACH IN PROFILE:
Les Gramantik - Athletics
By CSCC Practicum student - Corrina Roth

Les Gramantik has an air about him. There's a glow in his eyes reflecting experience and wisdom - not surprising considering he's been through a lot in his lifetime. While living in Romania under the iron curtain in the 60's and 70's, he was locked up in hotels while attending track and field competitions; he lived in refugee camps, and finally defected to a Canada in 1976.

All told, Les has been involved with track and field, either as an athlete or coach, for approximately 42 years. He competed for twelve years with various nations, but his best results were in pole-vaulting for Romania in the early 70's. Now based in Calgary, Les coaches the University of Calgary's track and field team and other national team athletes through the Canadian Sport Centre - he was also the head coach for the Canadian team at last summer's World Track and Field Championships in Edmonton. When asked about whether or not he has a coaching philosophy, he says, "It's not so much a philosophy. It's a holistic approach. Mainly to make people more efficient at what they are doing. This sport is demanding in terms of a fitness base but they are easy skills. I mean the cave men could throw a javelin. But to catch the animal they had to have the fitness base to keep up with it to get within killing range. Things have not changed much."

When asked what his favourite events are to coach he replies, "I coach athletes. My favourite is what the athlete wants to do. I coach sprinters, decathletes, vaulters etc. There are different abilities within the talent pool. And sometimes the athletes lose sight of that fact. They set their sights on being a sprinter when their real talents are say middle distance. I try to help them see that their dreams can be realized if they are open to explore where their talents can take them."

It is obvious as he speaks that coaching is his passion. He describes his work as a vocation. He smiles and adds, "It's a profession and a job some days too. You invest a lot of time and thinking. You carry a lot of baggage sometimes also. I used to be devastated with how the athletes did. I've gotten better with that though. When I graduated I knew everything, but everyday that goes by I understand ten times more and that's why I don't see retirement in the near future just yet."

When asked what he sees as the future for athletics in Canada, Les responds that he is worried about the next five to ten years. "Track is the second largest sport in the world and Canada is constantly playing catch up to the rest of the world. There are no corporate dollars going into amateur sport and corporations here do not understand the value of their possible investment."

As an example, Les explains that in Canada there is $2.1 million allocated for the entire national track program, whereas in England alone $35 million is allocated to athletics. He says he is not worried about the sport being dead, as there will always be competition and there are some positive things, but that dog days lay ahead.

When he's not busy coaching however, Les does enjoy his rare quiet time to build things, go skiing, play soccer or just be alone. At times he says it's good to just retreat from the world.