Press Releases

Canadian swimmers rake in medals at Parapanamerican Games; Table tennis comes up with bronze

13 August 2007
RIO DE JANEIRO, Brazil – (August 13, 2007) Swimmer Andrea Cole won Canada’s first medal on the opening day of the Parapanamerican Games on Monday in the  100m freestyle in a time of 1:16.76. She followed it up with another gold medal in the 100m backstroke in 1:33.24.
 
“I’m very proud to have won two gold medals. It was a really good swim for me,” said Cole, who swims in the S8 category.
 
Also winning gold were Donovan Tildesley, of Vancouver, BC, in the 100m free in 1:01.59 (S11 category), Brian Hill, of Duncan, BC, in the 100m individual medley in 2:27.12 (S13) and Valerie Grand’Maison, of Montreal, QC, in the 200m individual medley in 2:32.33 (S13).
 
Canada’s 4x100m women’s freestyle relay team also won gold in 4:46.92. It was composed of Darda Geiger, of Sarnia, ON, Brittany Gray, of Barrie, ON, Stephanie Dixon, of Victoria, BC, and Laura Jensen, of Fort St. John, BC.
 
“I’m happy that I won the gold, but I wasn’t completely satisfied with my race. There are still a lot of things that I can improve on leading into 2008 (Beijing Paralympic Games),” said gold medalist Hill.
 
Winning silver medals were Jessica Tuomela in the 100m freestyle in 1:20.75 (S11), Jensen in the 100m freestyle in 1:20.91 (S7), Benoit Huot in 100m fly in 59.57 (S10), and Kirby Cote in the 200m individual medley in 2:34.42 (S13).
 
Silver medalist Cote added, “This was my best time since the 2004 Paralympic Games in Athens. My race felt really good. This is a beautiful and fast pool.”
 
Devin Gotell, of Antigonish, NS, in the 200m individual medley in 2:39.35 (S13), and his sister Chelsey Gotell in the same event in a time of 2:34.67 (S13) both won bronze. It was a personal best time for Chelsey.
 
Drew Christensen, of New Westminister, BC, started the team off right with a new Parapanamerican Games record of 1:05.83 in the 100m freestyle in the S8 preliminaries on Monday morning. But he fell ill and was unable to compete in the final.
 
The only other sport in which Canada won medals on Monday was in table tennis; Stephanie Chan Chim-Hing, of Richmond, BC, won bronze in the women’s standing open class.
 
Just missing out on a medal in the men’s table tennis standing open was Ian Kent, of Eastern Passage, NS, who finished fourth.
 
Here’s how Canada did in the other sports:
 
ATHLETICS
 
Canada’s Jason Dunkerley broke his own Parapanamerican Games record with his guide runner Greg Dailey in the 1500m in a time of 4:07.93. They advance to the finals on Tuesday, where both are aiming to break the world record.
 
Dunkerley’s previous Parapanamerican Games record time was 4:14.19, which he ran in Athens in 2004.
 
“We’re going for [the record] every time we go out. We had a good season and it’s been a good fit,” said Dunkerley. “We sort of relaxed a bit in the middle of the race, and we were a little off the pace we wanted to be at. But we woke up with a lap to go and we picked it up. Tomorrow, we’ll try to be a little more aggressive in the middle part of the race.”
 
The world record of 4:05.11 was set by Great Britain’s Robert Matthews in 1989.
 
The next fastest runner in the 1500m at the Parapanamerican Games was Brazil’s Carlos Silva who clocked in at 4:27.59.
 
“It’ nice that J’s (Jason’s) running 4.07 like it’s nothing. It’s his personal best, so today shows he should be able to go quite a bit faster, as long as we take care of the little details and are more attentive throughout the race,” said Dailey, of Toronto, ON. “There’s no sense running back with everyone else – that will not help us tomorrow. Tomorrow we want the world record. The more times you put yourself in that zone of hurt, the more you are able to deal with it the next day.”
 
In the 200m, Canada’s Barry Phelan qualified for tomorrow’s final with a time of 25.84, behind first-place qualifier Edson Pinheiro, of Brazil, who ran 24.35.
 
“I was pretty happy with my performance. I’m looking forward to the competition in the final,” said Phelan. “I just have to run my race to beat [Pinheiro]. When I finished I felt like I could still do a little bit more. All the jitters are out now so I’m ready to run tomorrow.”
 
Both Kyle Pettey, of Brampton, ON and Robert Hughes, of Mississauga, ON, broke Parapanamerican Games records in the men’s F32-34/F51-53 discus, but due to a points system used to combine disability classes, they ended up fourth and fifth respectively.
 
Pettey, classified in the F34 category, threw 32.10m and Hughes, classified in the F33 category, had a throw of 20.47m.
 
Jason’s brother Jonathan Dunkerley, of Ottawa, ON, pulled a hamstring in the 100m event and jogged to the finish line with his guide Sean Young, also of Ottawa, to finish 14th in a time of 20.88.
 
SEVEN-A-SIDE FOOTBALL
 
Canada fell 2-1 to fourth-ranked Argentina on Monday in its opening five-a-side football (soccer) match of the Parapanamerican Games in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil.
 
“It’s a tough game to wrap your head around because we played the best we’ve ever played, but we still lost,” said player Todd Phillips, of Powell River, BC. “We’re ecstactic because of the way we played, but we’re upset we couldn’t pull a win.”
 
He adds, “Because of the way we played today, we now have it in our heads that we could make it to the Paralympic Games, even though no one has given us a chance, because we’re not a football nation.”
 
Vancouver-resident Sefik Smajlovic put Canada ahead 1-0 just five minutes into the match when on a free kick just outside the center of the penalty area, he curled the ball around the wall into the corner. Smajlovic had sprung Fraserville, ON resident Matthew Brown on a break away. When Brown closed in, the goalkeeper came out of his box and picked up a foul on the challenge.
 
In the first half, Canada was able to hold off a pressing Argentina, and Canuck goalkeeper Ross MacDonald took away any threatening crosses.
 
 “We were playing a system, and everybody has to play their part in it,” Phillips said. “If one person blows it, the whole thing falls apart. We contained them outside and made them take longer shots.”
 
Then in the 47th minute of the game, Argentina was awarded a free kick just outside the center of the penalty area. Argentina equalized the game on a hard shot by captain Claudio Morinigo.
 
Seven minutes later, Argentina’s Mariano Morana ran alone from the half line, shrugged off his defender and fired a shot to the far side past MacDonald.
 
Fatigue and a lack of experience – Canada is playing only its seventh game as a team – allowed Argentina to keep control of the game in the second half, according to Canadian team coach Drew Ferguson.
 
“Two years ago Argentina would have beaten us handily. That being said, we were up by one with 15 minutes left and we let the lead slip away,” said the coach.
 
WHEELCHAIR BASKETBALL – MEN’S
 
Team captain and veteran Dave Durepos ignited Canada’s men’s national wheelchair basketball team in the third quarter to lead them to a 72-37 win over Mexico at the Rio Multipurpose Arena.
 
“Dirt (Durepos) went on fire in the third period and that was the turning point of the game,” said Canadian player Patrick Anderson. “Our defence was good the whole game, but not our offence. Our offence didn’t wake up until 9 a.m. and then we were off to the races.”
 
The Canadian squad led by just two points coming out of the first half of the game that began at 8 a.m.
 
Mexico held the lead for the majority of the first half. Canadian Adam Lancia though gave Canada a 24-22 lead with a turning point basket before the end of the half.
 
Canada forced numerous turnovers in the second half, frustrating the Mexican team and netting 23 points from those costly turnovers.
 
Entering the game with only 8 seconds left in the third, veteran Anderson dropped a 3 pointer, and Canada widened the gap throughout the fourth.
 
Canadian head coach Paul Bowes tried many line combinations, allowing the new players to gain valuable experience.
 
“Mexico was a strong team and a good test for us. We learned a lot from this game and will continue to move forward and prepare for Venezuela tomorrow morning,” he said.
 
The high scorers were Dave Durepos, Fredericton NB, with 26 points; Adam Lancia, of Toronto, ON, with 17 points and Pat Anderson, of Fergus, ON, with 13.
 
WHEELCHAIR BASKETBALL – WOMEN’S
 
Canada’s national women’s team downed Brazil 72-33 on Monday in wheelchair basketball, despite a slow start.
 
“Brazil came out really strong. They were within one point in the first quarter and it was back and forth,” said Canadian Lisa Franks, of Moose Jaw, SK. “We did some readjustments, and after that skill wise we could take them down; they just couldn’t break our press.”
 
The women’s basketball team has a tough game against the United States Tuesday night.
 
NOT IN PLAY YET
The sitting volleyball team plays its first official game on Wednesday. Powerlifter Sally Thomas, of Ottawa, ON, competes Tuesday, while Alexander Milo Radoman, of Brantford, ON, hits the judo mats on Friday, August 17, and Bill Morgan, also of Brantford, ON, competes in judo on Saturday, August 18.

 

Back

Events

Subscribe to this RSS feed

Previous