Sports administers have been earning their keep over the past year as they metaphorically dribble, stick handle, run, swim or cycle through the pandemic while most of their athletes鈥� competitions have been idled.
Peter McCrory was elected Tuesday to lead the Board of Directors of Victoria-based Triathlon sa国际传媒 at a crucial juncture. The national headquarters are in Save-on-Foods Memorial Centre.
鈥淭his is an exciting, yet critical time, in the history of Triathlon sa国际传媒,鈥� he said.
His athletes know it, too.
鈥淚t鈥檚 certainly not been easy,鈥� said national team triathlete Matt Sharpe of Victoria.
鈥淲e now know the Tokyo Olympics are going to happen this summer. But what we don鈥檛 know is how we navigate the qualifying process. That is up in the air. We want to be in shape and be ready but not peak too early.鈥�
Sharpe and Joanna Brown, two members of sa国际传媒鈥檚 regarded mixed relay team, relocated to Arizona in December to train.
鈥淲e have a tight-bubble training group,鈥� said Sharpe, who was born in Campbell River and came to Victoria to train and graduated from Claremont Secondary.
鈥淲e believe our Canadian relay team is capable of medalling in Tokyo.鈥�
sa国际传媒鈥檚 Olympic mixed relay hopes are buoyed by a deep pool from which to select for head coach Jono Hall of Victoria. It includes Sharpe, Brown, Tyler Mislawchuk, Amelie Kretz, Alexis Lepage, Cowichan Bay鈥檚 Desirae Ridenour and Victoria鈥檚 Hannah Henry. The combination of Ridenour, Henry, Lepage and Charles Paquet won silver at the 2019 Lima Pan Am Games while the quartet of Sharpe, Ridenour, Mislawchuk and Brown was fourth in the tougher 2018 Gold Coast Commonwealth Games. sa国际传媒 is ranked ninth in the world in the relay.
The best Canadian bets for the individual men鈥檚 and women鈥檚 races in Tokyo appear to be Mislawchuk and Brown. sa国际传媒 has two Olympic medals in triathlon with Simon Whitfield of Victoria winning men鈥檚 gold at Sydney in 2000 and silver at Beijing in 2008.
New board chair McCrory, meanwhile, replaces Les Pereira, who stepped down from the board last week. McCrory was director of the Olympic Oval in Calgary. A graduate of John Moore鈥檚 University in Liverpool, McCrory had a 17-year career in the Royal Air Force as a helicopter weapons systems officer before coming to sa国际传媒. A triathlete since age 15, he said the sport 鈥渋s in my blood.鈥�
鈥淲e are in a good place both on and off the field of play,鈥� McCrory added, in a statement.
鈥淏ut triathlon is still a relatively young sport compared to others and we need to continue to be innovative and challenge ourselves as a community across the country if we truly want to achieve excellence at all levels. My years of flying with the military taught me two valuable lessons: the importance of respecting yourself and your team, and the need to get people focused on delivering the highest possible standard and striving for nothing less than high performance.鈥�
The athletes seem pleased with the election of McCrory.
鈥淚t鈥檚 exciting. He seems highly qualified and will bring good energy to the program,鈥� said Sharpe.
