BY GREG SAKAKI
More than 75 athletes from the Nanaimo-Ladysmith area brought back shiny medals as souvenirs of their exploits at the recent B.C. 55-Plus Games.
This year’s games were held Aug. 22-26 in Abbotsford, and featured 2,500 athletes competing in 23 sports and games.
As usual, the Zone 2 Vancouver Island North team was a force, finishing third in the medal standings with 174 medals – 86 gold, 54 silver and 34 bronze – trailing only the first-place Fraser Valley and the runner-up Lower Mainland zone teams.
“Our swimmers did extremely well, it’s phenomenal how many medals they brought home, and our track and field group, they rocked,” said Nanaimo soccer player Laurie Miller.
She successfully advocated for mixed play in soccer competition this year, as she was moving up to the 70-plus division and thought it made better sense to play against men her age rather than 55-plus women. It meant she had to play for a Chilliwack team against the Island team she would have preferred to play on, but she won a bronze medal and the games were a lot of fun, she said, and she’s glad she was able to help open up more opportunities for women in sport.
Miller said Abbotsford put on a fantastic event overall, including the best opening ceremonies she’s been part of. She and others are already looking forward to the 2024 B.C. 55-Plus Games in Salmon Arm, but especially the 2025 games in Nanaimo.
Sport coordinators will be working hard to attract athletes between now and then, as the COVID-19 pandemic impacted the event’s participation numbers from a peak of 4,000-plus.
“We’re still at roughly half of what we know we’re capable of pulling … We have to start building now for Nanaimo,” Miller said.
She knows there are a lot of fit 55-plus adults in Nanaimo who would enjoy the experiences of getting involved in the games.
“The thing about the Island that’s so wonderful is how active people are, the active lifestyle,” she said. “I noticed that 25 years ago when I first started my connections with soccer players here. They weren’t just doing soccer, they were biking and hiking and coaching their kids and coaching other people’s kids and whatever else.”
55-Plus B.C. Games results from participants from Nanaimo, Lantzville, Nanoose Bay, Gabriola Island:
Archery - Bob O’Brien, gold, target recurve bow with sight, gold, 3D recurve bow with sight.
Badminton - Robert Carruthers, silver, competitive singles, silver, competitive doubles, gold competitive doubles; Dave Wong, bronze, competitive singles, silver, competitive doubles, gold, competitive doubles, gold, competitive mixed doubles; Jean Albert, gold, competitive singles, gold competitive mixed doubles, gold competitive doubles; Bill Macey, bronze, rec singles, gold, rec doubles, bronze, mixed rec doubles; Tom Lewis, gold, rec singles, gold, rec doubles, gold, mixed rec doubles; Jie Lin, silver, rec singles, gold, rec doubles, silver, mixed rec doubles; Mary Mark, gold, rec singles, gold, rec doubles; Marion Drage, silver, rec singles, gold, rec doubles, gold, mixed rec doubles; Chris Pearce, silver, competitive doubles, silver, mixed rec doubles; Ulla Stetter, gold, rec doubles, bronze, mixed rec doubles.
Curling - Daryl Britz, gold, mixed.
Eight-ball - Sheila King, gold, singles.
Five-pin bowling - Maureen Carr, gold, high scratch singles.
Golf - Janis Uvanile, gold; Billie Chang, bronze; Jonathan Hoskins, gold.
Hockey - Brian Watson, gold; Richard Fontaine, gold; Bryan Murphy, gold; Paul Sinclair, gold; Cliff Cookman, gold; Peter Westaway, gold; Tom Mullan, gold; Henry Wiebe, gold; Sue Maltby, bronze; Glenda Kohli, bronze; Tracy Hurley, bronze; Carolee Brown, bronze; Lorraine Anderson, bronze; Annette Noble, bronze; Colleen Kazanowski, bronze; Sandi Sinclair, bronze; Brett Kohli, gold.
Pickleball - Sean Kennedy, bronze, doubles; Peter Korvin, bronze, doubles; Megan Mitchell, gold, singles.
Soccer - Rick Henderson, silver; Gurnaik Dial, silver; Mark Nagra, silver; Gunnar Myhrer, silver; Paul Parsley, silver; Bruce Benedict, silver; Kevin Hooper, silver; John Lee, silver; Tony Norris, silver; Tim Richards, silver; Patrick Lwyn, silver; John Eby, bronze; Jeff Till, bronze; Alfredo Moon, bronze; Tony Fitterer, bronze; Anup Kang, bronze; Gian Nagra, gold; Les McGrath, gold; Jack Stephens, gold; Adda Besseghieur, gold; Glen Murphy, gold; Barry Murphy, gold; Sandy Dick, silver; Lesley White, silver; Debby McNeil, silver; Laurie Miller, bronze.
Swimming - Joanne Van Oosten, bronze, 50m backstroke, silver, 50m breaststroke, silver, 25m backstroke, bronze, 25m backstroke, silver, 25m breaststroke, gold, 4x25m medley relay; Philip De Ridder, bronze, 400m freestyle, silver, 800m freestyle, bronze, 200m freestyle, gold, 4x25m medley relay; Nancy Ryan, silver, 50m backstroke, silver, 100m backstroke, silver, 200m freestyle, silver, 100m freestyle, bronze, 50m freestyle, silver, 25m backstroke, gold, 4x25m medley relay; Inge Hornby, gold, 50m breaststroke, silver, 100m individual medley, bronze, 25m backstroke, bronze, 25m breaststroke, gold, 4x25m medley relay.
Track and field - Shawn Fostvelt, gold, 100m dash, gold, 50m; Sven Donaldson, gold, high jump; gold, long jump, gold, triple jump, silver, pole vault; Sandie Bissessur, gold 400m, gold, 200m, gold, 800m; Breta Passier, silver, 100m dash, silver, 200m, gold, 50m; Denise Bonin, silver, 100m dash, bronze, 200m, silver, 50m; Glenn Befus, gold, 400m, silver, 800m; Terry Riggins, gold, 5,000m, gold, 400m, silver, 200m, silver, 800m, gold, 50m; Jane Waite, silver, discus, gold, shot put, gold, long jump, silver, hammer throw, gold, 400m, gold, 100m, gold, 200m; Patti Rogers, gold, 400m; gold, 200m, gold 50m.
Results from participants from Ladysmith:
Archery - Darcy Dean, gold, target recurve bow with sight, gold, 3D recurve bow with sight; Robert Berry, gold, target recurve bow without sight, gold, 3D recurve bow without sight.
Equestrian - Anita Davey, silver, over fences, bronze, open, silver, hunter hack, gold, hunter derby, silver, under saddle.
Hockey - Bill Barratt, gold, silver; Alan Seriani, gold.
Pickleball - Barb Lawrie, gold, doubles.
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