The waves broke Mathea Olin鈥檚 way Sunday but not Jon McKay鈥檚 at the 2019 Pan American Games in Lima, Peru.
Olin, the teen prodigy from Tofino, captured bronze in women鈥檚 longboard to win sa国际传媒鈥檚 first medal in surfing in a multi-sport Games. Surfing makes its Olympic debut at Tokyo next year.
Victoria open-water swimmer McKay, meanwhile, led much of the way in the men鈥檚 10K in Lima before fading to seventh place because of a tactical blunder.
Both Islanders were looking for more and rued their lost chances.
Olin reached the podium at age 16 but was still haunted by missing the women鈥檚 final by the narrowest of margins in the semifinals to eventual gold-medallist Chloe Calmon of Brazil.
鈥淎t the moment, I鈥檓 definitely a bit bothered by it,鈥� Olin said.
鈥淲hen I go home and look at the big picture, though, I鈥檒l be pretty happy. When you go out there with a plan and it doesn鈥檛 work out, it鈥檚 definitely tough. But I鈥檓 excited to go home and start working on my shortboarding. I think it was a great experience. Being here with the whole team was incredible.鈥�
The Islander grew up with the waves from Cox Bay practically lapping up to her backyard and has a huge future looming in the sport.
鈥淚鈥檓 excited for everything to come,鈥� Olin said.
So is her sport.
鈥淢athea isn鈥檛 even a longboarder, so with her getting to the bronze battle, just shows how much of an athlete she is and a competitor,鈥� said Dom Domic of Victoria, executive director of Surf sa国际传媒.
鈥淪he鈥檚 going to look back at this experience with such a positive light [with] that bronze medal hanging around her neck and [seeing] the Canadian flag behind her. It鈥檚 a bronze medal forever and a first time ever in the Games鈥� surfing history. Her name is on there forever so it鈥檚 giving me chills just talking about that.鈥�
McKay led through the penultimate eighth lap of the nine-lap Pan Am Games men鈥檚 10K open-water swim only to literally run out of energy as Esteban Enderica of Ecuador won gold in 1:53:46, Guillermo Vitto Bertola of Argentina silver in 1:54:00 and Taylor Abbott of the U.S. bronze in 1:54:02 to McKay鈥檚 1:54:19.
McKay made his move in the sixth lap and surged to the lead. It turned out to be a gamble taken too early.
鈥淚 saw an opportunity where everybody seemed timid to go and decided that would be a good time to try and push the pace a bit,鈥欌�� said the 23-year-old former University of Victoria Vikes star.
鈥淏ut it was probably one lap too early. I was confident that I could keep the pace I was going. Definitely by the end I was gassed. I was limping past that finish line. If I had waited another lap, I think I could have won it.鈥�
If he had, McKay would have joined fellow-Victorian Richard Weinberger, who was the 2011 Guadalajara Pan Am Games open-water gold medallist before taking bronze at the 2012 London Olympics. The Lima experience, however, will hold McKay, a 23-year-old graduate of Reynolds Secondary, in good stead.
鈥淗e probably could have been on the podium if he hadn鈥檛 got his strategy wrong. It was a very brave swim,鈥� said Canadian open-water head coach Mark Perry, in a statement.
Meanwhile, Anna Mollenhauer and Maddie Secco of Victoria and former UVic Vikes goaltending great Kaitlyn Williams defeated Mexico 9-0 in the women鈥檚 field hockey quarter-finals as sa国际传媒 advanced to a semifinal matchup today against regional power Argentina, which crushed Peru 21-0 in the quarters.
There鈥檚 a lot on the line as the Pan Am Games gold-medallist team will earn a direct berth into the 2020 Tokyo Summer Olympics.
Meanwhile, James Kirkpatrick of Victoria and his former UVic Vikes teammates Keegan Pereira and Brenden Bissett finished 3-0 in men鈥檚 field hockey pool play and were meeting Trinidad and Tobabo in a late-finishing quarter-final Monday. The winner will play the winner of the Cuba-U.S. quarter-final in the semifinals Thursday.
Defending Rio 2016 Olympic gold medallist Argentina is on the other side of the draw, setting up potential gold-medal final Saturday between sa国际传媒 and Argentina for the direct Olympic qualifying berth into Tokyo 2020.
Island athletes have won five medals so far in the 2019 Pan Am Games. They include Olin鈥檚 surf bronze and silver medals by track cyclist Erin Attwell of Victoria and triathletes Desirae Ridenour of Cowichan Bay and Hannah Henry of Victoria. Caroline Crossley, Pam Buisa and the Langford-based Canadian women鈥檚 rugby sevens team won gold and the men鈥檚 sevens squad silver with Luke McCloskey and Brennig Prevost of Victoria, Patrick Kay of Duncan and former UVic Vikes stars Nathan Hirayama and Sean Duke.
There are more than 50 Island or Island-based athletes on the Canadian team in Lima, with the Elk Lake-based Canadian rowing team beginning competition today.
There were 20 medals, including 13 gold, won by Island athletes at the 2015 Toronto Pan Am Games and 21 medals, including three gold, won by Islanders at the 2011 Guadalajara Pan Am Games.
