Cyclists Pedal Onto Team Nova Scotia
Eleven young cyclists have pedalled their way onto Team Nova Scotia and will represent the province at the 2005 Canada Games in Regina, Sask., this summer.
The team's six men and five women were chosen on Saturday, June 4. They will compete in all four cycling events at the Games: cross-country mountain bike, individual time trials, and two types of road races.
"The 2005 cycling team is the strongest we've ever assembled for the Canada Games," said head coach Andrew Feenstra of Halifax. "All the team positions were hotly contested by a very strong pool of eligible athletes. We look forward to bringing home some medals from Regina."
The cycling team is favoured to win in both men's and women's events with Jamie Lamb of Dartmouth and Kate Scallion of Wentworth returning to the team. They both cycled for Nova Scotia at the 2001 Games in London, Ont.
Ms. Scallion and teammate Lilla Roy of Stewiacke also have Winter Games experience, having competed on Nova Scotia's cross-country skiing team in 2003.
The team's assistant coach is Natasha Ward of Edmonton, Alta. The team manager is Mark Foster of Halifax.
"These cyclists have been extremely dedicated to their training over the past few years and they're going to have a great experience at the Games," he said. "They're continuing to prepare with races in British Columbia, Quebec and Boston in the coming months. By August, they'll be ready both physically and mentally to be medal contenders."
The cycling team is the eleventh to finalize its team roster. Other final teams have been named for field hockey, sailing, swimming, women's volleyball, men's and women's basketball, soccer and softball.
Names of athletes who have been selected for Team Nova Scotia are available in the Meet the Team section of the team's website at http://ns.canadagames.ca/summer2005 .
The 2005 Canada Games run from Aug. 6 to 20. Team Nova Scotia will have a maximum of 357 athletes competing in 16 sports during the two weeks of the Games. They are supported by 45 coaches, 20 managers, one boatman and 18 mission staff. Four young artists will participate in the National Artists Program, bringing the team's total to 445 Nova Scotians.