Olympic hopefuls put through paces at UVic
Based on evidence, there were likely some future Olympians and even Games medallists being put through their strides Saturday afternoon at the RBC Training Ground tryouts at the CARSA gymnasium fieldhouse on the University of Victoria campus.
“I look at a couple of these kids and just say ‘Whoa,’ ” said Victoria Sports Hall of Fame speed-skating legend Brenda Shields, scouting the event for Speed Skating Canada, among the 11 national sports federations on hand.
Shields noted that long-track Canadian national-team skater Alison Desmarais, on path to the 2026 Milan-Cortina Winter Olympics, was discovered at the RBC Training Ground tryouts in Victoria three years ago.
So was Avalon Wasteneys of Campbell River, who was directed to the University of Victoria Vikes rowing program from an RBC Training Ground tryout, and Kelsey Mitchell, who was redirected to cycling from the University of Alberta Golden Bears soccer team following a Training Ground session. Both ended up as gold medallists at the 2020 Tokyo Olympics.
“My goal is the Olympics,” said wrestler and rugby player Loryn Roberts of Duncan, 17, who is top-ranked nationally in her age group for the 64-kilo class in wrestling.
“It’s amazing how many new things you learn here going through these drills.”
With those scouts from 11 national sports federations taking notes on the hundreds of aspirants who came out.
“I’m hoping to reach the highest level and am learning the pain it takes to get there,” said Grade 10 Reynolds Secondary and Victoria Sports School cyclist Mateus Dodd, who won his group race Saturday in the exhausting beep test.
Field hockey player Ethan Picard, 17, of the Cowichan Valley, won his group race in the demanding beep test, known and dreaded by athletes world-wide.
“My goal is to try every sport out there and be open-minded,” he said.
The athletic talent hunt scours the country to uncover hidden talents in young people not currently in organized sports or to re-direct current athletes into other sports better fitting their body metrics. In its ninth year, the program has discovered and funded 13 Olympians and seven Canadian Olympic medallists over the last two Games. Eight graduates of the program competed for Canada in the 2020 Tokyo Summer Olympics and five in the 2022 Beijing Winter Olympics.
“It is now evidenced based that the program is working,” said national cycling coach Kurt Innes of Victoria, keeping a sharp eye on the proceedings Saturday.
“Some of these young people have never been challenged outside their normal pathway of ‘I’m a rugby player’ or ‘I’m a hockey player.’ But maybe you will discover you’re better at something else.”
More than 14,000 Canadians have tried out over nine years in the free RBC Training Ground tryouts and 1,600 of them have been directed or re-directed to a sport at the national level. Each of the tryouts across the country have former or current national team mentors on hand as sounding boards.
“Victoria is always producing top-level talent and is a powerhouse sports community with so many national-team athletes training here,” said mentor and 228-time Canada-capped former women’s national-team field hockey captain and Oak Bayresident Kate Wright, as she watched the proceedings.
“It’s nice to stay connected and be involved with a process that helps find future Canada athletes,” added Wright, a twotime Pan Am Games medallist, who manages the three RBC Training Ground tryouts in B.C. staged in Victoria, Vancouver and Kamloops.
Another mentor helping out Saturday was runner Nate Riech of Victoria, who won gold at the 2020 Tokyo Paralympics, and is preparing for the 2024 Paris Paralympics.
“This is a wonderful sports community and I’m there to help out with anything that helps find and develop future talent for Canada and makes sport more accessible,” said Riech.
The top finishers in each of the nation-wide Training Ground trials will be invited to the 2024 national finals later in the year in Ottawa, out of which 30 athletes will receive Olympic talent search funding from the RBC Training Ground program.