Canadian swimming record holder and World championship medallist Mike Brown retires.

CALGARY (Thursday May 28th, 2009) – Mike Brown of Perth, Ont., one of Canada’s most successful international swimmers over the past decade, announced today that he will be retiring from competitive swimming. Brown, 25, spent eight years on the national team, which were highlighted by his great performances in the men’s 200-metre breaststroke. He holds the Canadian record in the event at 2:08.84, which he set in a fourth place finish at the Olympic Games last year.

“It was a tough and long decision to end my swimming career,” said Brown. “It’s the biggest decision I’ve had to make so far. Swimming has been my life for 17 years. I’m extremely proud of all my accomplishments in the sport.”

Besides his exceptional Olympic swim in Beijing, Brown has posted numerous career highlights. At the 2005 world championships in Montreal he won the silver medal in the 200 breaststroke and earned bronze and gold in the same event at the 2002 and 2006 Commonwealth Games respectively. He was also sixth at the 2004 Athens Olympics “It’s tough to nail down one highlight,” said Brown. “To win a world silver in front of a Canadian crowd was a huge moment for me. But my two Olympic appearances are probably at the top. That’s what we all strive for and to represent my country twice at the Olympics and get those great results are something I’m extremely proud of.”

Brown started a new job this week as an agent with Colliers International, a commercial real estate company based in Calgary. He says the lessons he learned in swimming such as hard work and commitment are going to have a strong influence on the next chapter in his life. “There comes a point when your passion moves on to the next phase in your life,” said Brown. “I’m really interested in the business world and I’m the kind of guy who wants to capitalize on that kind of opportunity. I’ve been swimming a long time and it’s basically time to move on.”

Brown’s swimming career was far from a smooth ride and he knows the effectiveness of perseverance. He battled injuries and after his world championship silver in 2005 he was mired in a slump that lasted up until a record performance at the 2008 Olympic trials. “I wasn’t born an Olympic athlete,” said Brown. “There were ups and downs all over the place but I was committed to my swimming career and surrounded myself with successful people. Pushing and persevering are what sport is all about and that’s what I had to do those two years prior to Beijing to get back to where I was and then surpass that.”

Born and raised in Perth, Ont., about an hour from Ottawa, Brown has fond memories for what set the base for a successful swimming career. “My parents come to mind first,” he said. “They were always there for me, in the good times and hard ones. Learning to swim in Perth was just a lot of fun and it had to do with the community. It was like being part of a family. I don’t think it’s a fluke there were four Olympians from Perth in 2008.”

After graduating from high school, Brown swam on a sports scholarship at the University of Minnesota before heading to the University of Calgary to train under Jan Bidrman just before the 2004 Olympics. He has remained there ever since.

“Mike was always able to step it up when it really mattered,” said Bidrman. “He was a great leader both by example through his work ethic and helping and encouraging other club members. He really exemplified what a high performance athlete is all about.”

Brown plans to keep his fingerprints on the sport. “I love my sport and I’ll always be on a pool deck somewhere and involved somehow.”

Fans wishing to contact Mike can do so on his personal website gomikebrown.com. A special presentation will be in his honor during the World Championships Swimming Trials in Montreal, July 8-11.

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Canadians Mandy Moran and Hailey Casper win bronze at diving Grand Prix.

MADRID – Mandy Moran of Thunder Bay, Ont., and Hailey Casper of Calgary won the bronze medal Sunday in the women’s three-metre synchro event to conclude the sixth stop on the FINA Grand Prix diving circuit. Lin Qu and Qulin Zheng of China won the gold while Tania Cagnotto and Francesca Dallape of Italy were second followed by Moran and Casper. It is a first career Grand Prix medal for both divers.

It was only the second time that Moran and Casper, both based at Dive Calgary, dove together in the three-metre synchro event. ‘’It went really well,” said Moran, 28, fourth on individual three-metre on Saturday. “Our synchronization was on but our individual dives could have been better. It’s great to get the medal. We have both been competing recently at different venues so we didn’t have the opportunity to train as much as we would have like for this event.”

Casper, 16, is one of Canada’s top junior divers. Her big goal is to compete this year at the Pan American junior championships September 10-13 in Calgary.
“It’s a great opportunity for me to compete in this event with Mandy,” said Casper. “She has a lot of international experience and she is someone I’ve always looked up to."

On men’s 10-metre tower, Kevin Geyson of Winnipeg advanced to the semifinal and placed seventh overall.
Canada ended the meet with three medals. On Friday, Alexandre Despatie of Laval, Que., was second on men’s three-metre while Pamela Ware and Carol-Ann Ware of Otterburn Park, Que., also won silver in women’s 10-metre synchro.

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Amber Thomas top Canadian swimmer at Paralympic World Cup.

MANCHESTER, England – Amber Thomas of Drayton Valley, Alta., topped Canadian swimming performances at the Paralympic World Cup which concluded here Monday with fifth place finish in the women’s 400 freestyle. Eleanor Simmonds led Britain to a 1-2 placing with Heather Frederiksen second and Jessica Long of the U.S., third. 

“It was way better than last weekend,” said Thomas, 15, a visually impaired swimmer.  “I stayed consistent when I took my breaths and that helped me maintain a steady pace.  I had a tendency to slow down in the middle of the race.  This time it was much better.”

Stephanie McDougall of Maple Ridge, B.C., posted a personal best in the 100-metre breaststroke and finished 10th overall. “I wasn’t sure if I’d be able to go a best time,” said McDougall, 21.  “I think what helped me was having a really good warm-up.  I was focused and relaxed and just got in and swam it.  Plus being here in England for two weeks we’ve had some really good training.”

Other top-10 Canadian results were posted by Brianna Nelson of Victoria finishing eighth in the women’s 100 backstroke, Hessel Altenburg of Fredericton eighth in the men’s 100 butterfly, and Jenna Skieneh of Windsor, Ont., and Brittany Gray of Barrie, Ont., were ninth and 10th in the women’s 100 butterfly.

Prior to the World Cup, the Canadian Para swimming team competed last week at the British International Disability Swimming Championships.  Thomas won two medals at that event. “We left the veterans at home and took a young group that we want to start getting ready to go for the 2012 and 2016 Paralympic Games,” said Craig McCord, the head coach of Canada’s Para swimming team.  “It was a combined competitions and training camp and they swam really well.  There’s no doubt we’re ahead of last year’s pace.”

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Jessica Groeneveld and Ben Hayward paddle to impressive results.

Jessica Groeneveld of Calgary and Ben Hayward of Edmonton paddled to impressive results.at the National Team Selection races in Ottawa ON, May 29, 30, 31.  Three days of racing saw Groeneveld emerge as the new dominant force in the women’s class in Canada.  The first day of paddling saw Jessica put 5 seconds between her and her closest competitors and she never looked back.

For both athletes this is their second year on the Senior National Team.  Hayward had an extremely close third day and pulled it out when it counted to hold off the rest of the field.  At 21 and 20, Groeneveld and Hayward are the new blood on the National Team and both athletes have shown that they can compete internationally.  Groeneveld won the final race of the 2008 season in Maryland while Hayward was a Junior World bronze medalist in 2007.

Team Selections is always the mentally toughest race of the season for paddlers as they look to secure their spots on the National Team.  The Team will compete in three World Cups in France, Slovakia and Germany in late June.  The World Championships will be held in Seu d’Urgell, Spain in September.

Paul Manning-Hunter and Thomas and Danel Purcell all secured their spots on the National Development Team.  Manning-Hunter had an impressive come from behind victory to qualify in kayak, while the brothers just missed the Senior National Team on the final day in the doubles canoe class. Calgary’s Marissa Dederer, Graham Jobe & Hayden Daniels all qualifed easily for the Junior National Team at the same races.  In total Alberta had 14 athletes competing at the event with coaches Mike Holroyd and Toby Roessingh.

The races were held on the ‘Pumphouse’ whitewater course, just below the National Archives in Ottawa, which was recently re-opened after major renovations.  The course is a modified chanel of the Ottawa River that allows athletes to train and race slalom, at home, for the international circuit.  Facility improvements, coaching and a dedicated training group have been the biggest factors to Alberta’s recent successes.  The addition of a slalom training site in Calgary, and the recent improvements to the Kananaskis River have greatly aided in quality of training.

The newly formed Calgary Regional Development Center are supported by regional coaching grants from Alberta Sport Recreation Parks and Wildlife Foundationas well as initiatives of the Canadian Sport Center Calgary.  Alberta Head Coach Mike Holroyd will also join Groeneveld and Hayward in Spain in September as part of a new Canoe Kayak Canada initiative to develop new National coaches accross the country.  Ottawa and Calgary are two of four regional centers for Slalom kayak in Canada.

The Alberta Team new splits up over the summer to attend races in Europe and Eastern Canada.  The National & PanAm Championships will be held in Kananaskis over the August long weekend.  The best North American paddlers will all be in attendance.  For more information go to www.asck.ca

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Kozak key figure in women’s hockey program.

Calgary Herald - May 27, 2009 - From the moment Wally Kozak started talking, Julie Healy was all ears.
It was 1998 — the first year women’s hockey made its’ debut on the Olympic stage in Nagano — when Healy, Melody Davidson, and Kozak first teamed up to coach the inaugural Canadian under-22 team. Now, over a decade later, the three are still working under the Hockey Canada umbrella and Healy still remembers her first impression of Kozak.“Couldn’t get a word in edgewise,” said a laughing Healy, now the director of female hockey for Hockey Canada. “I couldn’t even speak. He was just so excited to talk hockey and share his experiences that all I could do was listen. I basically listened and learned from him all year.

“Then, in March of 1999 at the Esso National championship, the team I was coaching, Team Quebec, beat his team, the Oval (X-treme),” she recalled. “His comment after the game was: ‘She listened to everything I said and used it to beat me.’
“Absolutely, he’s had an incredibly positive impact on me as a coach.”

With no background in female hockey — and an extensive coaching resume on the men’s side, including a stint with the Canadian national team — Kozak got a crash-course in the game when he began mentoring Shannon Miller, the first boss of the Canadian women’s squad. Then, as the senior adviser to the Japan Ice Hockey Federation, he fell into a adviser/coaching position of the Japanese women’s team when he joined Dave King who was kick-starting the hockey culture in Japan at the time for the 1998 Nagano Olympics.

Soon after, Kozak, who spent 27 years as a Calgary high school teacher and coach, was running the Olympic Oval hockey program in Calgary before joining the Canadians bench for the 2002 Salt Lake City Winter Olympics. That was when Cassie Campbell recalls meeting Kozak for the first time after she moved to Calgary from Ontario to join his program.

“I remember that first week being at the Oval and he was there,” said the former national team captain who played in the 1998, 2002, and 2006 Olympics. “You could tell from the moment you shook his hand that he was so passionate about hockey. “There’s no ego. There’s no trying to move up the ladder. He’s so about the people and the game. Everyone he meets, he tries to make better somehow.”

As an assistant coach, Kozak helped guide Campbell and the 2002 team to the first of back-to-back gold medals before becoming Hockey Canada’s head scout and continuing to develop the female side of the game.

However, the fall of 2007 changed his life forever.
The 63-year-old collapsed on the ice while helping Healy and her Strathmore Rockies of the Western Women’s Hockey League with defensive coverage. Kozak had suffered a heart-attack so severe that specialists gave him a five per cent chance of surviving. But without the quick-acting by his players who resuscitated him using a defibrillator, he might not have lived to talk about it.

“As traumatic as it was, we were quite happy he was with us because at least there were people there to take care of him,” said Healy. “He could have been alone in his car, at a rink at minor hockey practice . . . he could have been doing a number of things where nobody would have been able to help him.”

Kozak, who has lived in Calgary since 1970 and raised three daughters with his wife Carol, had quintuple bypass surgery and was in neurological rehab until last spring. But didn’t take long before he hit the ice again.
He took over as the Rockies head coach from Healy this past season — 30 pounds lighter — and currently works for Hockey Canada in development, advising on curriculum development and working on video.

“I’m really crazy about hockey, period. Girls or boys, doesn’t matter,” said Kozak who grew up in Wadena, Sask., and was recently inducted into the local high school’s hall of fame. “I think it’s appropriate to be working for Hockey Canada that’s involved nationally and internationally with youth to keep a focus on what we’re here for.

“Everybody’s looking at gold medals and results. In the end, there’s going to be one Stanley Cup winner. Coaches will probably be fired. Players will probably be traded. I think at our level and the Olympic level, as much as winning is important, I think we’re looking at what you do, how you develop, how you improve, how you get there.”

Earlier this month, he was given Hockey Canada’s Gordon Juckes Award for his longtime contributions to the development of amateur hockey at the national level. But Kozak never started doing what he does best to get recognized. “It was embarrassing,” he said of the award with a smile. “I’m employee of Hockey Canada and the award isn’t given out to employees, it’s given out to volunteers across the country who do this and hold down jobs. It all comes from the appreciation of what it is you’re doing and you get a lot of that here.

“The work itself is satisfying. It really is. I just keep telling people, ‘You know what? I’m getting paid for this.’ It’s crazy.”

And it doesn’t surprise others he’d feel that way.
“That’s his passion,” said Healy. “Wally Kozak is coach at heart. He’s happiest when he is talking to other coaches about becoming better coaches and teaching the game.”

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Retired Reitsma makes pitch to young players Developing kids with ‘passion for the game’.

Calgary Herald May 23, 2009 - With spring comes baseball season, but the only place you’ll find Calgary’s most famous major league pitcher hurling a ball is at Glenmore Athletic Park with his students.
Chris Reitsma, a first-round pick by the Boston Red Sox in 1996, a starter and reliever for the Cincinnati Reds (2001-03), the Atlanta Braves (2004-07) and the Seattle Mariners (2007), can finally say he’s retired from playing ball.

He was still signed to the Mariners last spring, but left when he wasn’t able to crack the lineup. He hedged on announcing a “final-sounding” retirement last year and played for Canada at the 2008 Beijing Summer Olympics in August, where he pitched in two one-run losses.

But a recurring elbow injury in his right pitching arm had taken it’s toll and the games in Beijing were his last as a player. “I had five elbow surgeries; my playing days are over,” says Reitsma, 31, who twice broke his arm while pitching and was told at 19 his professional career was over. “I basically said it’s time, I’m out to pasture now.”

In September, Reitsma joined Calgary’s National Sport Academy as head baseball coach and, along with former Oakland Athletics draft pick Jim Lawson, oversees the development of 25 high school-aged ball players. “It’s been interesting working with high school players, it’s been an interesting transition,” says Reitsma. “When I got back to Calgary full time, I thought it’s a city of a million people now, but we’re not seeing a lot of high-quality ball players coming out of here.

“I wanted to help out, find kids with a passion for the game and show them how to get to the next level, how to get to college and the pro leagues.”

Reitsma came up through the Calgary West Little League and the Babe Ruth league before making his way into the national program. And he did it when there were few local mentors to help guide him.
“There were no ex-professional players in town when I was growing up,” says Reitsma. “I was fortunate that I got scouted up here. “In my program(at the sport academy), kids can play all winter long indoors and take as many swings as they can. I want to get them a lot of repetition. I’m trying to give these kids every chance to make it to the next level. I wish I could’ve had that when I was young.”

Reitsma wants to build his baseball program and attract more students. He’d also like to see his sport become more prominent in the city and plans to make appearances at Calgary Vipers games with his kids. “It’s not all hockey in Calgary, there’s another really great summer sport in town,” he says. “There’s a million people here and not a lot of people support the Vipers. Whenever you get the chance to take in a ball game with your kid, it’s such a positive thing. I hope Calgarians realize what we have here before it’s too late.”

The father of three young daughters says the biggest benefit of ending his playing days is the time he now gets to spend with his kids and wife Janelle. “It’s really great,” says Reitsma. “I get to take them to school in the morning and see them every night. “It used to be so difficult to spend time with my family and now I see them every day.

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Over 150,000 tickets to Vancouver 2010 Olympic Winter Games up for sale June 6.

VANCOUVER, May 29 /CNW/ - Canadians hoping to land dream tickets to an Olympic ice hockey showdown or the emotional spectacle of the Opening and Closing Ceremonies will have another opportunity to secure tickets starting at 10:00 am (Pacific Time) Saturday, June 6 when the Vancouver Organizing
Committee for the 2010 Olympic and Paralympic Winter Games (VANOC) releases more than 150,000 tickets for sale to the public at www.vancouver2010.com.

Tickets for every sporting event, as well as the Opening, Closing and nightly Victory Ceremonies at the 2010 Winter Games will be available on a
first-come, first-served basis.

In addition to the more than 150,000 competition and Opening and Closing Ceremonies tickets, this marks the first time thousands of Victory Ceremony tickets will be available as single tickets for $22. Previously they could only be purchased through the bundled Olympic Experience Packages available in the first round of sales. The nightly ceremonies at BC Place in downtown Vancouver will pay tribute to the medal-winning athletes as the International Olympic Committee recognizes the day’s accomplishments. Following the medal presentations, the athletes’ triumphs will be honoured with a celebration concert featuring renowned entertainers.

On June 6, ticket customers visiting www.vancouver2010.com will be directed to a virtual waiting room, where they will be randomly selected to
enter the Vancouver 2010 ticketing website. Once signed into their account, customers will be able to purchase up to six separate events, with a limit of
either four or eight tickets per event. If a customer wants to order more than the limit of six events, they will need to start a new transaction.

Helpful tips:
To save time, previously registered customers are advised to sign into their ticketing account at www.vancouver2010.com before June 6 to ensure their username and password are up-to-date and functional. New customers without an existing account can save time by pre- registering an account before June 6.

The Competition Schedule, including the draws for the ice hockey tournaments for the Games and ticket prices, is posted on www.vancouver2010.com to make it easier for customers to plan their ticket-buying strategy ahead of time.

VANOC reminds customers that Visa is the only payment card accepted. Customers will also have the option to select an offline payment and mail in a cheque.

Entry to the system is random - refreshing the web page will not reduce your wait time. Plan ahead for purchases and ensure you have sufficient credit available in your account as purchases will be charged immediately.

Be wary of tickets offered for sale through unofficial channels. The only official sources for Canadians for tickets to the Vancouver 2010 Olympic Winter Games are www.vancouver2010.com (in partnership with
VANOC’s official ticketing services supplier tickets.com) and official 2010 Winter Games hospitality partners Jet Set Sports and CoSport.

Be vigilant about individuals or companies offering “guaranteed” tickets for sale. For most people, even a “money-back” guarantee is little consolation for the disappointment, inconvenience and embarrassment they will experience if they discover at the gate that their ticket is invalid.

Customers may also purchase tickets by phone at 1.800.TICKETS (1.800.842.5287), and a TDD/TTY service is available for persons who are deaf or hard of hearing at 604.629.7140.

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What made Shewfelt shine.

Posted by Scott Russell - CBC - It was at the Atlanta Olympics in 1996 that a gymnastics analyst and coach by the name of Carol Angela Orchard turned to me and offered her perspective on the fact that Canadians would be also-rans in this sport yet again.
“But they’ve got this kid coming up from Calgary named Kyle Shewfelt,” she said. “He’s going to be something.” Jean Paul Caron, the head of Gymnastics Canada, nodded his head in agreement. “He’s the one,” said Caron. “Finally!”

Over the course of the next dozen years Kyle Shewfelt turned out to be the epitome of Olympic gymnastics greatness. He was a master craftsman in what many consider to be the world’s most difficult sport – the one that just about every kid couldn’t do in physical education class. From the age of six, at the Altadore Gymnastics Club in an industrial section of the Stampede City, he worked with his trusty coach, Kelly Manjak.

It was a dingy place, as I recall, and outside the smell of the nearby abattoir was putrid. But in watching Shewfelt train you forgot all that and basked in the glow of his sunny disposition. Kyle Shewfelt could light up the gloom. And he was good – no he was fantastic – at what he did.

At the succeeding Olympics in Sydney he had a move on the vault named after him – a move too complicated to get into here. It’s enough to say he was blazing a new trail for Canadians in his sport and going where no others could or possibly ever would.
Orchard, by this time the coach of national women’s team, was there to remind me. “Did you see that?” she asked wide-eyed. “He’s got it. He’s going to be Olympic champion someday. I can’t wait!”

You know the rest of the story. Shewfelt became one of the few Canadians, male or female, to win a medal at the world championships in Anaheim, Calif., in 2003. He won two of them. Then the next summer in Greece he claimed the gold medal in the men’s floor exercise – a Canadian breakthrough. His pose atop the podium in Athens with the laurel wreath adorning his head was classic. It became a signature image of CBC’s association with the Olympics.

Afterward, when Shewfelt came to the sidelines to be interviewed by Olympic speed skating champion Catriona Le May Doan, he embraced her with the cameras rolling. She was later warned not to be too familiar with the athletes. In fact it was Shewfelt who had initiated the hug.“This means the world to me,” he told her with a look of wonder plastered on his face.

Watching and listening from the booth, I couldn’t tell if he meant the gold medal or the realization that he had just been admitted to the circle of greatness he so admired.

In Stuttgart, Germany, at the world championships 11 months prior to the Beijing Olympics, he broke both his legs. Interviewing him the day after the incident, with those battered limbs encased in splints and strapped into a wheelchair, Shewfelt told me the most astounding thing. “I’ll make it back for the Olympics,” he beamed. “You can count on it.”

He was, as you’ll recall, true to his word.

Now Kyle Shewfelt withdraws from the competitive part of his gymnastics life. But in making that difficult choice he needs to be assured that only so much polish can be applied to a shimmering contribution. His stellar career requires no more buff.

What is it that made Kyle Shewfelt shine?

He was truly exceptional - an original - a Canadian pioneer.

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