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Carson Paul never had to look far in his house for inspiration. He needed only hold his dad Terry Paul鈥檚 Olympic gold medal for coxing the Elk Lake-based Canadian men鈥檚 rowing eight to glory at the 1992 Barcelona Summer Games.
鈥淚t鈥檚 a huge inspiration. It鈥檚 what every athlete dreams about,鈥� said Carson Paul.
The younger Paul began his own medal collection on Saturday by winning the bronze in the boys鈥� 12-13 three-metre at the 2017 Pan American junior diving championships in his home Saanich Commonwealth Place pool.
鈥淚t was a bit of a relief because I had such great crowd support at home. I came out relaxed today after being super uptight in the platform event Friday.鈥�
Paul was recently awarded a $10,000 Petro sa国际传媒 Fuelling Athletes scholarship for potential future Olympians. He said he will use it for travel expenses to meets.
His medal was quite a way for the Grade 8 Royal Oak Middle School student to celebrate his 13th birthday.
It was the third medal won at the junior Pan Ams by the host Victoria Boardworks Club. Keira Lu won silver in the girls鈥� U-11 one-metre springboard on Saturday and Bryden Hattie silver in the boys鈥� 16-18 three-metre on the opening day of the meet on Thursday. 鈥淭hese are the future Olympians for [Paris 2024 and Los Angeles 2028] from the Americas that are here this week,鈥� said Lisa Boog, manager of the Boardworks Club.
Her host club looks to be right in that five-ring mix.
鈥淚t鈥檚 the result of a lot of hard work and support. We have a very cohesive club and a great coaching staff [led by head coach Tommy McLeod].鈥�
The success feeds on itself. This Pan Am juniors week of medals follows the six medals Victoria Boardworks divers won at the 2017 sa国际传媒 Summer Games in Winnipeg and Boardworks performer Celina Toth鈥檚 two medals for sa国际传媒 at the 2017 World University Games in Taipei, Taiwan. That has come in the wake of Boardworks-produced Olympians such as Riley McCormick.
鈥淚 really look up to Celina and how she trains,鈥� said Lu, who is in Grade 6 at Arbutus Middle School.
The successes are being accomplished in a pool that keeps on giving.
鈥淭his facility is everything to us,鈥� Boog said.
鈥淓ven after all these years [23], it is still considered one of the best pools in the country.鈥�
The Pan Am junior championships feature the best 11-to-18-year-old divers from Brazil, Argentina, Chile, Colombia, Cuba, Mexico, Puerto Rico and the United States.
The meet concludes today.
