Former rower David Calder of Victoria has been on an Olympic podium, with a silver medal around his neck, at Beijing in 2008.
But a podium at the 2018 B.C. Summer Games in the Cowichan Valley filled him with just as much joy, if of a different kind. Calder, executive director of Rowing B.C., presented his daughter, Mira Calder and partner Nina Corwin, with the gold medals in the women’s rowing double.
“It was pre-arranged that I would present those medals, but what a proud moment and awesome experience it turned out to be for me,” said four-time Olympian Calder.
Also for his daughter.
“To have my dad present the medals is what made it so special,” said Mira Calder, who is going into Grade 9 at Claremont Secondary.
“And because the gold medal was the result of such hard work.”
Mira Calder also won two bronze medals in rowing in the B.C. Summer Games in the Cowichan Valley. That follows her gold and silver medals in judo at the 2018 B.C. Winter Games held in February at Kamloops.
“My dad’s Olympic career has inspired me. I’ll do both sports as long as I can and see what happens,” said Mira Calder.
A lot can happen. The B.C. Games have been the multi-sport Games starting off point for Olympians from the Island such as Jamie Benn, Ryder Hesjedal, Michael Saunders, Brent McMahon, Riley McCormick, Fred Winters, Martin Reader, Gillian Carleton, Michael Mason, Jamie Broder and Kirsten Sweetland, among many others. As they also were, in either the B.C. Summer or Winter Games, for Carey Price, Brent Seabrook, Brett Lawrie, Carol Huynh, Dylan Armstrong and Maelle Ricker.
The next generation — 2,385 athletes and 452 of their coaches and 264 team officials in 18 sports — poured into the Cowichan Valley from Thursday to Sunday for the 40th edition of the B.C. Games.
Continuing with the family and genes theme, Maggie Banks of Shawnigan Lake School, was named the athlete of the Summer Games at the closing ceremony Sunday for leading the Island team to gold in women’s rugby sevens. Banks is already on the national sevens team’s development roster. Maggie’s father, 36-time capped No. 8 Ryan Banks, was national team captain and represented Canada in the men’s rugby World Cup in 1999 and 2003 while mom, Heather Wilson-Banks, was national-team captain and played for Canada in the women’s World Cup in 1994 and 1998.
The host Island team topped the medal standings with 145, of which 58 were gold. That was followed by Fraser River’s 127, of which 41 were gold, Vancouver-Coastal’s 114, of which 37 were gold, and Fraser Valley’s 84, of which 35 were gold. Rounding out the table were Thompson-Okanagan with 80 medals, Cariboo-Northeast with 34, Kootenays with 16 and Northwest with 13.
Helping the Island zone claim top spot were Belmon Secondary's Savannah Purdy and Oak Bay's Erin Mutch, who won beach volleyball gold by defeating Team Vancouver-Coastal in the final to cap off an undefeated weekend.
Starting out as an event for older club athletes, the emphasis was changed in the 1990s to use the B.C. Games instead as a vehicle for up-and-coming elite young athletes in the province to experience their first multi-sport setting. These are now the gateway multi-sport Games in a pathway that leads to the Canada Games and international Games such as the Commonwealth, Pan Am and Olympics.
Considering the B.C. Games’ starry alumni list, it never hurts to dream big. This might be as good as it gets for the majority of the participants, but for the few to break through, it is the first step along a path. There were 35 B.C. Games alumni on the Canadian team at the 2016 Rio Summer Olympics, including Islanders such as Broder in beach volleyball, Sweetland in triathlon and bronze-medallist swimmer Hilary Caldwell.
More than 2,300 volunteers throughout the Cowichan Valley helped stage the Games.
