Maxwell awards honour athlete who set bar very high

It was certainly fitting that Grammy Award winner Dan Hill handed out the scholarships in honour of late Canadian marathoner Brian Maxwell.

Hill and Maxwell were great friends and members of the same track club in Toronto coached by Dave Steen, formerly of the Toronto Star and uncle of the Olympic bronze medalist of the same name.

Hill has written a compelling article for the upcoming edition of Canadian Running magazine on Maxwell, who died of a cardiac arrest at age 51. He was a member of the 1980 Canadian Olympic team and the founder of PowerBar.

Here's an excerpt from the article:

A day doesn’t pass that Brian doesn’t inspire me. During a run, when I feel my energy fading, I can hear him urging me on. In that way, he’s like my father, the other central figure in my life. When my singing voice feels like it’s giving out, after three straight hours of performing, or when a diva demands that I rewrite a song for the umpteenth time, I find inspiration in remembering my dad’s galvanizing speeches on human rights. Or I think again of Brian, suffering from heat stroke as he gunned for the Canadian 10,000m record, and I dig in a little more.

I have yet to go on a run since Brian died where he doesn’t cross my mind, where I don’t feel him in my stride. I imagine him in a better place, urging me to aim for the stars and beyond. Brian set the bar pretty damned high, which is both wonderful and daunting—it makes me realize I can always learn, grow, improve. I still can’t fathom how despite a heart defect, he once ranked third in his sport worldwide. Brian’s resourcefulness, toughness, and independence of spirit sends a message to all of us: that we can rise above whatever roadblocks we face—whether disadvantages we are born with or impediments we encounter –and still rock the world, and leave our mark.

The awards are given to elite high school student/athletes to pursue higher education in Canada. Nominees must attain a minimum 80% average in grade 12 and perform at the highest level of high school middle distance running.

Chris Dulhanty from Loyola Catholic SS in Mississauga, and Melissa Jones from Fellowes HS in Pembroke each received awards in the amount of $5,000. Recipients of the $1,000 Recognition for Excellence Award include Luca Geiser from John Cabot CSS in Mississauga, Carise Thompson from Highlands SS in Dundas, and Colleen Hennessy from St. Thomas Aquinas CSS in Oakville.

"It was just so moving to see so many kids who are excelling in so many ways between academics and sport and also volunteer work," said Hill. "At the same time, they were very sweet and humble in accepting their awards. I was very impressed at how they all thanked their parents and coaches."

Well Done, Miguel: Congratulations to Toronto Star art designer Miguel Vadillo for completing his swim across Lake Ontario. Vadillo was raising funds for the Canadian Tire Jumpstart program with the hope it will give disadvantaged children the opportunity to learn to swim. He's been concerned by the number of drowning deaths among kids. Donations can still be made through Vadillo's website.

Tough news for Mandi: There is some bad news for Canadian hockey player Mandi Schwartz, who is battling leukemia. A perfect match for a stem cell transplant was found, but it turns out that her cancer has returned and she will have to undergo more chemotherapy to be put back in remission before the transplant can happen.

Doctors at Seattle Cancer Care Alliance have a plan in place for her transplant that includes a breakthrough procedure. You can read about that here.

A fundraising effort to help the Schwartz family with expenses is being undertaken by three of Mandi’s Yale University teammates who are biking from Toronto to New Haven. Dubbed “The Ride for 17” (Mandi’s uniform number), it starts on Aug. 22.

Updates will be posted at http://www.yalebulldogs.com/mandi

Kyle Nissen ready to jump into next phase of his life

As freestyle skiing aerialist Kyle Nissen sits at his first ever desk job, he often glances over at the digital frame flashing photos from his World Cup days.

It's the pictures of him and the buddies he made from all over the globe that make him a bit wistful, but he knows it was the right move to make his retirement official today after a decade in the sport.

"I tried to take as much time after the Olympics to see if the desire would come back," said Nissen. "After the Games, I knew I would be burned out so I waited to see. But the training camps started and I knew I didn't want to go back."

The 2010 Vancouver Games were a tough blow for Nissen, who led after the first round in the final but wound up fifth for the second straight Olympics after a miscue on his second jump. The pain has subsided, though.

"I mean I'm always going to be a little disappointed to be that close and miss," said the 30-year-old from Calgary. "But I've come to peace with it. Vancouver itself was still one of the most amazing experiences of my life. I don't know if you could top a home Olympics."

Nissen is working in the office at an oil and gas company in Calgary for the summer -- "it was a bit surreal at first" -- but will start classes at the University of Calgary in September. His tuition is covered under a Sport Canada program and he will focus on computer IT courses.

Nissen is one of the good guys of Canadian support, a talented athlete who won 12 World Cup medals during his career but did it pretty quietly and never really got -- or sought -- the headlines.

It's really the end of an era for the Canadian men's freestyle team, as star Steve Omischl also recently announced his retirement and Ryan Blais is competing for just one more season. It remains to be seen if Warren Shouldice, at 27 the youngest of that group, will continue past this season. They enjoyed phenomenal success on the World Cup, but could not convert at the Olympics.

"It's a changing of the guard," said Nissen. "We all grew up together. There's a tone of great memories. My favourites might be from training camps and just some of the dumb s--t we did. I'll miss that."

(The photo of Nissen from the qualifying round at the Vancouver Olympics was taken by the Star's Steve Russell)

Mark Tewksbury: An Olympic chef with the right recipe

Mark Tewskbury was once the Judas of the Canadian Olympic movement. Now, just call him Lazarus.

The gold medalist swimmer was branded a traitor for organizing a group of athletes to challenge the International Olympic Committee when their corruption scandal erupted in 1999. He resigned all his Olympic posts and vowed never to work with them again. Canadian Olympic officials, including Dick Pound, regarded him as persona no grata.

That's just one of the things that makes his appointment Thursday as the chef de mission for Canada at the 2012 London Olympics such a sweet tale.

It's also a story of inclusion, of how an athlete who feared ostracism when he revealed he was gay has been handed one of the Canadian Olympic team's most prominent positions – and his sexuality isn't even an issue.

“An issue became a non-issue – and that was the whole dream, right,” said Tewksbury in an interview. “I wasn't like a mad, angry militant, but I just had to be me. And unfortunately being me at that time meant taking this really big risk, but I've also seen that if you're really true to yourself, you're honest, you're open, things somehow work out.”

Tewksbury's authenticity makes him a great choice. He's an athlete who used his heart to get him where nobody thought he had a chance to go – the top of an Olympic podium in the men's 100-metre backstroke in 1992.

There will be many Canadian athletes in London in a very similar position to that of Tewksbury at Barcelona. They will be in the mix with medal potential, but far from a favourite. It often becomes a matter of self belief, something Tewksbury is extraordinarily gifted at helping instill.

“I've been there and I turned a career that wasn't really iconic – Alex (Baumann) and Victor (Davis) were the icons of my day -- into a championship in less than a year,” said Tewksbury. “The fact that we're two years out and I get to start talking to the sports, talking to the athletes, I feel like there's really enough time to share my story and have it make it a real impact, especially on those athletes that might be coming from behind but just need to know it's been done before.”

The athletes love this guy. He was selected to speak to them before they marched into the opening ceremonies for the 2010 Vancouver Games. He impressed everyone from fresh-faced youngsters like Patrick Chan to steely veteran Clara Hughes.

In that situation, he chose humour, because his finely honed skills for reading his audience told him that was needed.

“If one more person told them 'We have high expectations,' they would have screamed,” said Tewksbury. “I just threw what I was going to say out the window and went really goofy and made them laugh.”

A good indicator of the esteem in which he's held was reflected in veteran Canadian short track speed skater Tania Vicent's tweet: “Wow Mark Tewksbury for Chef De Mission!! Best choice ever!!!”

The chef de mission will play an important role in setting the tone for London team. Expectations have been heightened after Vancouver and Tewksbury said off the bat they need to be tempered for 2012, the stated goal of a top-12 finish as a country being a lofty enough one.

The good thing about Tewksbury is he won't sugarcoat things. He has too much integrity. When the Canadian swim team went into the tank at the 2004 Athens Olympics, Tewksbury went after the swimming officials with facts and plenty of bite as a commentator for CBC TV.

He also didn't kiss butt to get the chef's position, usually a prerequisite. As he recalled, it looked like his Olympic career was done on February 4, 1999, when he resigned all his official positions and started the splinter group OATH (Olympic Athletes Together Honourably), a great initiative that unfortunately didn't last.

Let's just say it won't be surprising if it turns out that Tania Vicent knows her chefs.

(Photo from Canadian Press)

Marnie McBean's going by the book in new venture

Most people know the book on rowing legend Marnie McBean: Passionate, tough-minded, intensely competitive.

But if all goes according to plan, people will be able to get to know another book on Marnie McBean – the one she's currently writing.

The triple Olympic gold medalist is making the transition from being a full-time employee for the Canadian Olympic Committee to being a contract worker and knows exactly what she wants to do with the extra time she'll have on her hands – add author to her list of titles.

“The book is not going to be about how I learned to row when I was 17,” said McBean over a coffee earlier this summer. “The book will be about things I've learned and things I believe are consistent about performance.

“When I was putting together the outline, I was pleasantly suprised at the amount of content. There's so many things I want to talk about, things I've talked about in presentations that people have really enjoyed. I'm excited about the process and looking forward to really sinking my teeth into something and building something.”

One of the things McBean plans to address is the oft heard notion that “people have to accept change.”

“I've come to believe that's archaic and that, really, people should anticipate change,” she said. “It allows you to be more agile and to look to spaces around the problems. A lot of that comes from where does motivation start, where does courage start, where does confidence begin?

“You're going to have fears and doubts. I learned to embrace the feeling of doubt on the water. I learned to expect it. I learned that my competitors had it, too. As long as they had it, too, I was okay because I felt I was tougher than them. Because you struggle doesn't mean you're not going to be successful. I never talked to an athlete who won easily.”

McBean is still doing speaking engagements and working with athletes on Team VISA, as well as being a member of the executive board on Canada's Sports Hall of Fame.

She said she knows she's going to have to impose structure on herself to get the book completed.

“So by telling you about this book, I have to finish it,” she said. “I have put it in stone. Accountability is there. I'll look like a complete idiot if don't do it.”

Speaking of Rowing: Malcolm Howard, a member of Canada's Olympic champion men's eights, is featured as Rower of the Month by FISA, the sport's governing body.  It's a really good interview, because that Howard guy can really talk. Interesting stuff about the friendly rivalry among the single scullers. Guess it helps to know other people are suffering as much as you.

For the first time in a while, the Canadian rowing team is competing this weekend at the 128th Royal Canadian Henley Regatta in St. Catharines, Ont.

Gutsy high jumper aims to have ImPACKD on kidney disease

The power of sport is often underestimated. It was Marie-Eve Chainey's strong desire to return to her love of high jumping that motivated her to battle through 800 blood transfusions after her kidneys stopped working nine years ago and from a point where she couldn't walk or even wash her hair.

She competed at last week's Canadian championships after nine years away from that level of competition. You can read her inspiring story from the front-page of the Sunday Star here.

The neat thing about most of Canada's athletes is they look beyond themselves and are involved in many causes.

Chainey is involved with a number of groups, including a relatively new one called ImPACKD, which stands for Improving Patient Advocacy in Chronic Renal Disease.

ImPACKD is a group of patients, caregivers, specialists and professional advocates affected by chronic kidney disease (CKD) who are committed to advocating for safety, accountability, treatment access and education for CKD patients.

ImPACKD’s goal is to empower physicians, patients and caregivers to become informed of all the existing information pertaining to issues in CKD and take action in order to incite positive change.

Chainey is one of the executive members of this group. There is a Facebook page and a website will be launched this month (www.impackd.ca). Equal access to treatment options across Canada, like nocturnal hemodialysis, which Chainey credits with transforming her life, is one of their goals.

Chainey is also very involved as a peer support worker with the Kidney Foundation of Canada and works with the Shad Ireland Foundation Canada, a non-profit group committed to helping people with kidney disease. They are holding a 1-kilometre walk or run, aimed at dialysis patients, a 5k and a 10k to raise awareness on Aug. 15 in Ottawa.

Sport At Its Best: Speaking of the power of sport, one place to get an idea of its impact is at the website Sport At Its Best, which is run by Olympic skeleton champion Duff Gibson.

Gibson has been hugely influenced by sport since the time he was a grade schooler in Scarborough. He's currently featuring a video interview with Olympic cross country skiing champion Beckie Scott, who talks about the culture of her sport and how it led to that magnificent moment at the 2006 Turin Olympics when a Norwegian coach gave Sara Renner his pole when hers broke during the sprint relay.

(The photo of Marie-Eve Chainey competing at the nationals is courtesy of Howard Bailey)

Dave Perkins: No columnist does the Olympics better

There were two things you could always count on from Dave Perkins in covering the Olympics for the Star.

The first was that he'd do an absolutely outstanding job in every way – meet each deadline with lively, accurate and clean copy (he was incredible in filing on the fly after the tragic death of luger Nodar Kumaritashvili at the 2010 Vancouver Olympics), write original, clever and often biting columns and be there to help his colleagues in every way.

The other thing you could count on is that the end of every Olympics, he'd say it was definitely his last for the Star, that there was NO way he'd be back for the next one.

Well, he meant it when he said it after the Vancouver Games.

Perky, as his colleagues call him, wrapped up his career as a full-time columnist this week at the Star. Fortunately, he'll still be a contributor but it won't be the same and it's hard to imagine covering an Olympics without him on our team.

It's unheard of for a columnist after he's done his day's work – and it usually took Perky about 30 minutes to bang out a column most of us would die for -- to then ask reporters if he could run and get some quotes for them or if they needed a results sheet. But he regularly made that offer.

But it's his original style that will be missed most of all, the ability to lampoon the stuffed shirts or to come up with angle no one else thought of.

There was so many great ones but one that comes to mind is at the Atlanta Olympics when the local organizing committee was screwing everything up right out of the start gate and Perkins delivered this classic line in nailing them for their ineptitude: “Forrest Gump was a documentary.”

When Austrian ski great Hermann Maier went airborne and crashed through the safety barriers, Perkins calculated that he was in the air longer than the Wright Brothers' first flight.

Perkins was rare as a columnist in that he wrote about Olympic sports even where there wasn't a Games happening. In fact, he's led the way with his coverage of the behind-the-scenes machinations of the 2015 Toronto Pan Am Games.

As Barb McDonald of Skate Canada noted in a tweet this week, “Dave's a true pro – and a real friend to Canadian sport!”

(This picture is of Perky at the Great Wall after the Beijing Games. He was like a kid going down that hue aluminum slide afterwards. The photo was taken by Jim Byers, the Star's peerless Olympics coordiator.)

Paralympic runner feels discriminated against at Canadian championships

Jason Dunkerley says he's not trying to stir up trouble, but he can't escape the feeling he's being discriminated against at this week's Canadian championships in Toronto.

Dunkerley doesn't come across as a controversy for the sake of controversy guy. He's a visually impaired runner who has represented Canada at three Paralympics, winning two silver and a bronze so far with guide runner Greg Dailey. They have designs on more in 2012 in London.

His peers think well enough of Dunkerley that he's the athlete representative for the Para-Athletics team. Athletics Canada thinks enough of him that he'll be one of the athletes leading a group of kids through some drills as part of some public relations at the championships.

But Dunkerley says Athletics Canada doesn't think enough of him to respond to his concerns about being excluded from the men's open 1,500-metre event.

This was supposed to be his big chance. He'd enviously watched Rick Ball, an amputee who runs with a prosthethis, run in the men's open 10,000 metre final at last year's championships. He wanted the same opportunity then, but was told maybe next year.

In May, he was told he could run in the preliminary rounds of the men's 1,500-metre open event. On Friday, he got the rubberized track pulled out from under him.

Not enough runners entered for a preliminary round to be staged so it's going straight to semifinals and Dunkerley said he's been told he's not welcome. He said no one's given him a direct reason, but it's been implied it's because he uses a guide runner and might impede the race, which has extra importance because it's being used for Commonwealth Games qualifications.

Ball, meanwhile, is scheduled to race in the open 10,000 metres again, even though his race also has Commonwealth Games implications.

Dunkerley was told his only option was running by himself in his own 1,500-metre race.

“It's a very empty feeling,” said Dunkerley. “The fact is 99 per cent of our racing is in able bodied races that are actually sanctioned by Athletics Canada. It seems a bit of a contradiction that they would say that at the 11th hour. Our entire season has been geared to this race.

“I don't think this would happen on the able bodied side where they would make a change like that at the last moment. I don't think it would be tolerated.”

Dunkerley notes that Athletics Canada is regarded as a world leader on the Paralympic front, but said this has him wondering.

“In one way, I think there's a real commitment to it,” he said. “But when push comes to shove at a meet like this, a higher profile meet, then you get to see that maybe the commitment to it is maybe not full.”

He added: “The meet organizers are making up rules as they go, and I feel they are leveraging the involvement of our Para contingent in a way that is self-serving, to make themselves look good in the eyes of the public and media by showcasing one example of true integration, while asking other athletes to accept inconsistency and to feel like they are second best.”

Athletics Canada directed inquiries on the issue to Ozzie Sawicki, head coach of Canada's Para-Athletics team. Sawicki said he could understand Dunkerley's concerns.

“There is a discriminatory element, but I think our job is not to pursue the discriminatory element, our job is to pursue the education route,” said Sawicki. “The education is what's going to buy us fans, buy us support and and buy us opportunities so that future athletes don't run into those issues.”

Dunkerley said he wished they had an opportunity to educate the officials who ruled against them racing in the 1,500-metre semifinal. He said he and Dailey have never been involved in a collision in 12 years of racing. They use a 10-centimetre tether when they run, each of them wrapping it around one hand and swinging their arms in sync. They run tightly against each other.

“It's never been an issue,” he said.

Giving Mandi Schwartz a Fighting Chance

(I'm on holiday until the end of the month and just wanted to repeat this story about Mandi Schwartz posted on the Star website last month in the hope people will consider trying to help her in her fight. More information can be obtained at becomemandishero.org and onematch.ca)

The gesture was so subtle that some of Mandi Schwartz's teammates didn't even notice it at first.

When the Yale University Bulldogs lined up for pre-game introductions this season, they left Schwartz's customary spot on the ice empty as she battled leukemia back in Regina.

“Some of us didn't even know they were doing it,” said goaltender Jackee Snikeris. “It was a quiet thing that represented how much we still care for her and want her back.”

The 22-year-old Schwartz desperately needs a stem cell transplant to save her life. It's made even more difficult in her case because she's of mixed ancestry (Russian/German/Ukranian) and researchers have yet to find her a 10-out-of-10 DNA match. A worldwide campaign called “Become Mandi's Hero” is underway (becomemandishero.org) to find a perfect match.

Dr. Tedd Collins, a clinical immunologist who lost his daugher, Natasha, to leukemia last August and is an advocate for the Schwartz family, said the best chance for a match is blood from an umbilical cord. He has Schwartz's teammates contacting media outlets and ob-gyn offices in U.S cities with the heaviest concentration of ethnic backgrounds matching that of Schwartz, who has acute myeloid leukemia.

Collins said they need to do a transplant within the next 30 to 45 days in order for her to survive.

“Mandi's very bright. She knows what's going on,” said Collins.“That's a horrible feeling. She knows what happened to Natasha, which is even worse. She knows. And I hate that she knows.”

Schwartz (pictured above with Hayley Wickenheiser) learned June 9 that the cancer is in remission, but is still undergoing chemotherapy in Regina to keep the disease at bay while the donor hunt proceeds. She was originally diagnosed in December 2008 and was able to return to school and her team last year after the initial round of chemotherapy, but the leukemia came back last December.

She recently got engaged to Kaylem Prefontaine, her high school sweetheart at Notre Dame College in her native Wilcox, Sask, where her picture is on a Wall of Fame with the likes of NHL greats Vincent Lecavalier and Curtis Joseph.

It should be a time of celebration for the Schwartz family as younger brother Jaden is touted as a second-round pick in the upcoming NHL draft in Los Angeles (He was picked 14th by St. Louis). Their parents, Carol and Rick, are hoping to be there, but will make a last-minute decision depending on Mandi's health. In the meantime, Jaden is doing his part to help his sister's cause.

“As soon as she relapsed, we explained to Jaden 'You're probably going to be known as the boy in the draft whose sister has leukemia,'” said Carol. “He didn't have any issues with that. … It's been great because I think we've reached a whole bunch of people through his interviews.”

Among those also helping raise awareness is Team Canada women's captain Hayley Wickenheiser, who first met Schwartz about seven years ago.

“There is no doubt Mandi is sick and in need of help, but I think she sees her life past the cancer and with her future husband one day, and that tells me she's a fighter and we should fight for her as well,” said Wickenheiser.

Schwartz's resolve is undeniable. During the initial chemotherapy, she was still skating after each round finished.

“I just went on the ice at every chance I could,” said Schwartz in a telephone interview. “It was amazing. It just encouraged me for the next time I went in the hospital.”

That's no longer possible, but even in Regina this week she asked that a stationary bike be brought to her hospital room so she could do a light workout. She's still feeling the effects of a bout of pneumonia that left her with fluid in her lungs during her last round of chemotherapy and had her hooked up to tubes in the Intensive Care Unit.

Her voice is weak, her sentences are interrupted by coughing, but she remains every ounce the fighter she's always been on the ice.

“I concentrate on getting better at the moment,” she said. “That's my goal and I focus on that and not the negatives. I work on overcoming all the obstacles I have to go through while at the hospital.”

One of the shortest players on the team at 5-foot-5, Schwartz is a gritty in-your-face forward, a quiet leader revered by her teammates. They're devastated by what she is going through, but working as a team with Collins to find her a donor. Players from other teams have also joined them.

“She's so selfless and never asks anything of you,” said Snikeris. “I think that's part of the reason why everyone's got behind her because she's that kind of person and player.”

Collins believes a transplant using stem cells from cord blood is probably her only hope. He said more than 10,000 potential new bone marrow donors for Mandi have come forward through the campaigns launched but there have been no matches. He believes they'd need to get a pool of 100,000 new blood marrow donors to even have a shot.

“Cord blood, on the other hand, does not have to be as perfectly matched not to hurt Mandi but still gives the same upside,” said Collins.

There is a possible 9-out-of-10 bone marrow match in Germany for Schwartz, but Collins said that can still be very problematic. His daughter Natasha died after getting a transplant from a 9-out-of-10 bone marrow match.

Collins said their search has reached beyond North America to Germany, England and Israel. The goal is to collect cord blood from 200 people with her ethnic background and come up with at least two partial matches.

He said more than 50 pregnant women have sent in the form agreeing to donate their cord blood so far. He said they have collected blood from 12 donors and there are another eight women signed up who are expected to deliver their babies in the next week.

“One woman's in labour right now and she just called me to ask if there's anything else she can do,” Collins said. “It's really been like that. People have been touched by this campaign and realize they can save her life, so they're fighting to make this happen. An expectant mother can take something they might otherwise throw away and donate it and help save Mandi's life.”

The Schwartz family was buoyed by some recent good news for another young hockey player from Saskatchewan suffering from the same disease. Luke Boechler, a 19-year-old goalie with the Yorkton Terriers, was scheduled to go for a bone marrow transplant with an unmatched donor, but at the last minute a perfect match was found.

“We're holding out hope that we'll be in those shoes as well, that something's going to come up real soon for her,” said Carol Schwartz.

For more information, you can visit becomemandishero.org

Michael Barry: Dreams of Tour de France coming true

 

 As a little boy, Toronto cyclist Michael Barry rode around Mt. Pleasant Cemetery with his Dad, pretending he was in the Tour de France. You can see the photographic evidence above.

Well, he doesn't have to pretend anymore.

After being on the wrong side of so many close decisions and some bad luck, the 34-year-old Barry finally got the nod for cycling's most prestigious race when he was one of nine riders announced Thursday by Team Sky.

“I went riding this morning before I found out and I was thinking about the possibility of doing it,” said Barry from his home in Girona, Spain. “I got quite emotional thinking about all the years of racing. It's kind of hard to explain and not sound too cheesy.

“I grew up riding in the city with my Dad around Mt. Pleasant Cemetery. Riding the Tour de France is what I was imagining I was doing back then. I was like 4 or 5 or 6 years old. It's really nice to have the opportunity to do it.”

Team Sky management selected Barry over New Zealand sprinter Greg Henderson, a winner of four stage races this year, because they value what he brings as a domestique. He can use his experience to position himself in the peloton to protect the leaders, as well as help with tactical advice. He had a strong showing this year in the Giro d'Italia, almost winning a stage.

“Throughout my career, I've been a domestique, a worker, someone who doesn't necessarily score the goals but sets the plays up and gets the assists,” said Barry. “It's something I enjoy doing, it's something I've become quite good at.”

He'll be doing it to help out Team Sky's ace Bradley Wiggins, who finished fourth in the Tour de France last year.

“We're going there to win," said Barry. "The whole team is there to support him.”

Below is a recent training ride of Barry and teammates Wiggins and Steve Cummings from one of the late criticial stages of the Tour de France. It's pretty wild -- and may induce motion sickness. It's from michaelbarry.ca

Kreek is crossing an ocean for Right To Play

It's not something most guys have to explain to their wives: That they're going to be rowing across the Atlantic Ocean.

But Olympic gold medalist Adam Kreek found himself in that boat, so to speak. He chose a roundabout way to deliver the news.

Kreek's wife, Becca, who is expecting their first child next month, knew he'd taken up ocean racing as a new challenge and because he wanted something less competitive after the 2008 Beijing Olympics. She also knew he'd recently come into contact with some rowers who were part of the first crew to travel unassisted in a rowboat from the U.S. to the United Kingdom.

“I go in and tell Becca, 'You know those guys I met down in San Francisco? They're planning to row across the ocean again,'” said Kreek. “She said 'Wow, that's great! That's incredible!'

“I failed to mention that they had asked me.”

But later that same night they were out to dinner with friends and someone asked Kreek if there was anything new in his life.

“I said 'Oh yeah, I'm planning to row across the Atlantic Ocean.' Becca gives me this glare and a kick under the table. She said 'It was okay when it was them going across the ocean. Not when it was you.'”

Kreek is out on the ocean right now with Greg Spooner and Jordan Hanssen, who made the aforementioned U.S. to the U.K. trip, and fellow newcomer Richard Tarbill. They've teamed up under the OAR Northwest banner.

They're doing a three-night training session in the Pacific Ocean as preparation for the Mid Atlantic race, which involves rowing from the Canary Islands to Antigua in December 2011. They're hoping to break the record of 36 days. They're doing a play-by-play on Twitter right now of their training session. Tarbill's been dealing with sea sickness. They're not getting too specific, thankfully.

Kreek is pumped about his new challenge.

“It's a sense of adventure, it's something that's different than the Olympics,” said Kreek. “The Olympics are incredibly hard, but it's incredibly easy at the exact same time, because the path's clearly laid out for you, the rules are there, the rules stay the same and there's a lot more in your control.

“But the ocean is uncontrollable. The ocean is something that's unpredictable. That's adventure. That's the difference between climbing a mountain and running a marathon in a race. There's a lot that's out of your control and I find I've learned the most about myself in life and had the most fun when I've been in those situations where I'm a little bit scared and don't know if I can make it through but have managed to push through.”

There's a sense of purpose to this sense of adventure as well. They are raising funds for Right To Play International and Kreek said they've set an ambitious goal of $500,000.

“The whole idea is that these kids over in Africa and the Middle East and South America and these war-torn countries, they have an ocean to row that is even larger than the one we're going to cross,” said Kreek.

He got to see Right To Play's programs in action on a trip to Peru and Columbia.

“It's about the kids, but it's also about creating employment opportunities for local coaches and local coach trainers who are in their 20s and 30s,” he said. “You're giving someone a job. You don't have to pay them very much to give them a job. And they're running sports programs. Right To Play makes sure they partner with the government and local corporate community as well as the local community. It's a great tie-in for development, giving people something to do that's fulfilling and rewarding.”

Speaking of Right To Play, Clara Hughes has been writing some compelling dispatches on her website about her ongoing trip to Rwanda.