You take inspiration where you find it. John McKay doesn鈥檛 have to look far for his. It鈥檚 right in front of him every day.
The Victoria swimmer finished with gold in the 1,500-metre freestyle and bronze medals in the 800-metre freestyle and open-water 5K as the first week of the 2013 sa国际传媒 Summer Games came to a close in Sherbrooke, Que.
The second-week athletes begin taking over the Athletes Village today.
McKay trains with fellow-Victorian and UVic/Pacific Coast Swim Club member Richard Weinberger, who won bronze in the open-water 10K at the 2012 London Olympics and gold at the last sa国际传媒 Summer Games, in 2009.
The pair train in the same Saanich Commonwealth Games pool as their rivals with the Victoria Swim Academy/Island Swimming club 鈥� Ryan Cochrane, the 1,500-metre two-time Olympic medallist, and Eric Hedlin, the open-water 5K silver medallist at the 2013 world aquatics championships.
These ripples matter for the future of Canadian sport.
The sa国际传媒 Games have been the multi-sport launching pad onto the senior international stage for numerous Canadian athletes, including Island notables such as Cochrane, Weinberger, Steve Nash, Gerald Kazanowski, Ian Bridge, Gareth Rees, Gary Reed, Riley McCormick, Roland Green, the Gait twins and many more.
Of the 360 sa国际传媒 athletes competing in the 2013 sa国际传媒 Summer Games, 84 are from the Island.
Several of them made an impact on the diamond in the first week of the Games.
On the sa国际传媒 team that won gold in baseball are Colton Wood and Jesse Mycock of Victoria, Kurtis Horne of Sooke and Joshua Burgmann of Nanaimo. Wood earned the win on the mound with 10 strikeouts in a 5-0 victory over Ontario in the gold-medal final.
Emma Entzminger and Kelsie Hawkins of Victoria also won gold with Team sa国际传媒 in women鈥檚 softball, completing a breathless late run.
British Columbia had lost to Ontario, Manitoba and Quebec to finish fourth in the preliminary round-robin and barely squeeze into the medal round. sa国际传媒 then beat those same three teams en route to the gold medal.
Wrestler Ashley Osachuk of Campbell River, the flag-bearer for sa国际传媒 in the opening ceremonies, won silver. 鈥淚 feel good. Silver is better than nothing and I worked hard for it,鈥� said Osachuk,鈥� in a statement.
鈥淚 wrestled tough competitors from all over sa国际传媒, so to be second in the country is an amazing feeling. It鈥檚 been a memorable experience.鈥�
Nolan Badovinac continued Port Alberni鈥檚 strong tradition in wrestling with a bronze.
Victoria sailors contributed to the medal haul, with a silver won by Max Gallant and bronzes by Madison Innes and Sophie Papp.
sa国际传媒 finished out of the medals in men鈥檚 basketball but won its final game 76-51 over Alberta. Matthew Neufeld of Victoria scored 15 points, hauling in nine rebounds. It must be in his genes. Dad Kevin Neufeld is a Victoria rowing great and L.A. 1984 Olympic gold medallist.
Camosun College coach Chris Dahl guided the sa国际传媒 women鈥檚 volleyball team to the silver medal.
鈥淚t鈥檚 tough to end the tournament with a loss but that鈥檚 not the sum of our summer,鈥� Dahl said of the team, which included Chargers player Morgan Marshall and Comox鈥檚 Chelsea Tancon. 鈥淚t always takes time, but the acknowledgment of accomplishment will come for our athletes. This is but a portion of their career as an athlete and their development as people.鈥�
Alexander Swiatlowski of Victoria was on the bronze-medal winning sa国际传媒 men鈥檚 volleyball team.
Broken down by sport, 16 Island athletes are competing in track and field; 14 in rowing; eight in cycling; six each in basketball, swimming and triathlon; five each in diving, canoeing and sailing; four in baseball; three in wrestling; and two each in volleyball, softball and golf.
The Games conclude next Saturday.
