Andrea is a former Junior National Champion in the Slalom and the Giant Slalom and has also had tremendous success competing in North American Cups. Since making the jump to compete at the senior level, she has had multiple podium performances at the Canadian Para-Alpine Ski Championships and has recently made great strides on the world stage, including a 4th place finish last season in the Slalom at an IPC World Cup in Korea. With 2010 approaching, Andrea has a great shot at representing Canada at the Paralympic Games.

October 2009

Andrea Lee
Cross-Country Skiing

Andrea Lee is an 18-year-old cross-country skier who grew up in Black Creek, BC. She learned to ski through the Jackrabbit program and was soon passionate about the sport. She is a member of the BC provincial ski team and is also a member of the local Strathcona Nordics ski club. Highlights of her career include medalling at the National Championships and other national-calibre events. She is working to qualify for the Junior National team this year, and attend the world Junior Championships. Ultimately, she strives to one day represent Canada at the Olympic Winter Games.

October 2009

Please also see Events, September 20, 2007.

Mike Mason
High Jumping
Canadian Olympic Team

Mike hails from Nanoose Bay, north of Nanaimo. He participated at the 2008 Summer Games in Beijing.

Please see athlete profile.

Trevor Nagy
Gymnastics

Trevor Nagy loves what he does as a gymnast and has been training for 8 years. He started at age 9 as an alternate to pills to calm his hyperactivity. Over the years he has had great success not only in his training but also in his life. Trevor has been competing Provincially for 3 years and Nationally for 2 years. He is a two time National Champion on Vault and Floor and is ranked 5th best in Canada. He is currently a student and coaches boys aged 5 to 12. His future goal is to become part of Cirque de Soleil and make the National Team to represent Canada at the Olympics.

Excerpted with permission
from Downtown Magazine

Distance runner Steve Osaduik competes at a national level. He recently returned from competitions in Brussels and Japan. He runs cross-country and marathon distances. As a junior, Osaduik was able to compete in Italy and Morocco. He looks forward to making the trip to Beijing in 2008, and eventually London in 2012. Osaduik has recently been accepted into the Coast Bastion program, which supports local athletes. “It very expensive to attend all the meets – it’s great to have help from local businesses like the Coast Bastion, Java Hut at Malaspina Campus, and Pacific Sport. I also get some of my training gear from Adidas.”

Osaduik finds Nanaimo the perfect place to train. He spends 15 hours per week running as well as working weights. He sees physical therapist and former Olympian Yvonne Visser for massage therapy once a week as well, and finds that really helpful in his fitness level. Currently he is training for the Victoria Marathon, and is focusing on hills and road surfaces in preparation under the leadership of Coach Al Johnston, who has been working with Osaduik for more than 10 years.

September 2006

[Steve won the Royal Victoria Marathon on October 8, 2006, with a course record time of 2:16:47. Our community is proud of Steve Osaduik's achievement. He won the Royal Victoria Marathon again in 2007.]

Darah Provencal
Curling

2007 - Scotties Tournament of Hearts
2007 - British Columbia Woman’s Champion
2006 - British Columbia Mixed Finalist 2007 – Semi Finalist Players Championship.
2005 - Karcher Canadian Juniors
2004-2005 - British Columbia Junior Champion
2001 - British Columbia Junior Provincials (3rd)
2001 - British Columbia Winter Games (3rd)
2000 - British Columbia High School Finalist
1999 - British Columbia Junior Provincial Finalist
1998 - British Columbia High School Champion
1998 - British Columbia Winter Games Champion

Darah grew up in Smithers, BC, where she started curling in 1992 at age 8. Her career quickly took off in 1998 and after 13 years of hard work and dedication Darah finally achieved her goal of being a participant at the 2005 Karcher Canadian Juniors. In the 2005/2006 season she began her ladies curling career, winning the Kelowna ladies cash spiel. Her second year on the ladies scene Darah joined forces with Kelley Law, Georgina Wheatcroft and Shannon Aleksic, where they won the right to represent their province at the Scotties Tournament of Hearts, another of Darah’s lifelong athletic goals. For the 2007-08 season Darah began a quest to 2010 with Nova Scotia’s Colleen Jones, Georgina Wheatcroft, and Kate Hamer of Ont. Their season fell short, and Darah was asked to play with a B.C team for a shot at another Provincial title. With this team Darah and her team mates made it through the A side at regional’s and went on to play at the B.C Scotties Tournament of Hearts in Trail. Through the last couple years of playing with 2 of the world’s best players Darah feels that she has gained valuable knowledge and experience which she will continue to bring to future teams.

October 2009

Excerpted with permission
from Downtown Magazine

Kelsey Ross:
Nanaimo Skater Seeks Olympic Gold

Sixteen-year-old Kelsey Ross is a skater of gold medal calibre. She was born and raised in Nanaimo, and is currently attending the eleventh grade at Dover Bay Secondary School. She attended Pleasant Valley Elementary School from kindergarten to grade seven.

Since age three, she has been in love with figure skating, and started in our very own Nanaimo Parks and Rec. “Learn to Skate” program. Fascinated with the sport, she went on to join the Nanaimo Skating Club, and later the nationally renowned Sandy Shores Skating Club in Parksville. As an amateur skater, she is ranked as Novice, which is followed by Junior and then Senior, (the Olympic category).

Under the guidance and instruction of coaches Leslee and Larry Rushton, along with her determination to excel, she has been very successful at her sport and finished on the podium at countless competitions. Last year she was delighted to also receive some technical assistance from Olympic Gold Medalist Alexei Yagudin.

Kelsey Marshall won gold at the 2004 BC Winter games, gold at the 2005 Western Challenge in Ontario and gold at the Vancouver Island Region Championships. The B.C./YT. Section of Skate Canada has recently chosen Kelsey to be part of a hand picked group of other competitors from our province training for the 2010 Olympic Game Plan.

As a 2010 prospect for the Olympics, she must attend three or more seminars each year, which is mandatory for all skaters who have been selected for the Skate Canada 2010 Game Plan. Due to extensive travel and coaching requirements, Kelsey is turning to our community in search of sponsors to help her achieve her Olympic dream.

October 2006

Wendy Simms
National Mountain Bike Team

The 2006 Mountain Bike World Championships, josted in Rotorua, new Zealand, saw an impressive showing by Simms. This is just one of the many successes on her biking resume, which also includes two Canadian National Cyclo-Cross Championships and numerous appearances on the World Cup Mountain Biking circuit. She is currently following a rigorous training schedule to qualify as a Canadian representative on the bike trails of the 2008 Beijing Games.

September 2007

Please also see Events, September 20, 2007.

Michelle Stilwell
Champion Paralympic Sprinter

At the age of 17 Michelle was rendered quadriplegic after falling from a friends back while piggyback riding. Prior to her injury Michelle was involved in many sports. She excelled at track, basketball and ringette. Her injury has not put a stop to her enjoyment of these sports… just a few alterations. Michelle had an immediate liking for wheelchair basketball, although it began as a tough sport for her, she exemplified the spirit of a team player and knew what her job was on the court. She travelled the world representing Canada on the women’s wheelchair basketball team.

A gold medalist at the 2000 Paralympic Games in Wheelchair Basketball, Michelle Stilwell is no stranger to athletic success. However, Michelle was forced to quit basketball shortly after the games due to complications arising from her spinal cord injury. Despite this, rather than give up, she moved to a whole new sport and channeled her competitive drive and passion for sport into making one of the most meteoric rises for any Canadian athlete ever—going from a novice Wheelchair racer to World champion in just two years. In fact, in 2006 she won a Gold medal and set a new games record at the World Championships in the 200m and captured silver in the 100m.

In 2007 and 2009 Michelle won the women’s quad division at the Vancouver Sun Run 10k and the Victoria Times Colonist 10k but her specialty lies in sprints where she won numerous track and field competitions in the 100m, 200m, 400m and 800m events. In May of 2008, just seven weeks post surgery Michelle broke the World Record in both the 100m and 200m.Four months later success was found again in Beijing at the Paralympic Games where Michelle found herself on top of the podium for the 100m and 200m events breaking Paralympic Records in both.

Michelle is extremely dedicated to training, bringing her competitive drive to athletics after an extremely successful international career in Wheelchair Basketball. She manages to juggle full time child rearing, marriage and the training required to compete at the international level. Michelle actively speaks about the stages of her life, the circumstances that brought her to become a wheelchair athlete, her major victories, and her minor disappointments. She is an ambassador for ActNow BC and the Rick Hansen Foundation.

Michelle looks forward to competing in her first marathons in 2009.

October 2009

Michelle's official website.

Tony Theriault
Rower
Canadian Paralympic Team

Like a double agent with two identities, I've enjoyed a life in Sport and Recreation both pre and post a spinal cord injury. I grew up as a swimmer, and then moved on to running, Modern Pentathlon (Run, Swim, Shot, Fence, and Show Jumping) Triathlon, and Rowing. However along the way if there was a sport out there I'm sure I enjoyed it and at least tried it!

ROWING:

• Member of the Canadian National Rowing Team 2005-Present - Adapted LTA 4+ (Legs, Trunks, and Arms)
• World Bronze Medalist - LTA 4+ 2006 Eton, UK, 2007 Munich, Germany
• 6th place finish 2008 Beijing Paralympics - LTA 4+
• 4th Place finish 2009 World Rowing Championships LTA 4+ - Poznan, Poland

TRIATHLON:

• Completed six Ironman events (3.8 km swim, 180 km Bike, and 42 km run); three pre-accident, and three post-accident.
• Top overall Canadian finisher at the 1991 World Ironman Championships in Kona, Hawaii
• Silver Medal at the World Olympic Distance Triathlon Championships 2004-Cancun, Mexico, 2005 Queenstown, New Zealand

Running:

• BC High School Cross Country Champion
• Provincial Medals in the 1500 m, steeplechase, 3000 m, and 5000 m
• Canadian Jr. Bronze Medal - 1500 m Indoors
• Attended University of Idaho on Athletic Scholarship

Next goal could be the Olympic Games in London in 2012.

October 2009