DOCSLIB.ORG

Institut National Du Sport Du Québec

Total Page：16

File Type：pdf, Size：1020Kb

Download full-text PDF Read full-text
Institut National Du Sport Du Québec INSTITUT NATIONAL DU SPORT DU QUÉBEC OVER 40 YEARS AGO, FRENCH ARCHITECT ROGER www.insquebec.org TAILLIBERT MADE INTERNATIONAL HISTORY WHEN HE WAS CHOSEN TO DESIGN THE PRIMARY VENUE FOR THE 1976 Date opened: September 2014 SUMMER OLYMPIC GAMES IN MONTREAL, QUEBEC, CANADA. Architect: Lapointe, Magne et Associés Total area: 150,000 square feet Total participants: 475 high performance athletes Athletic options: 44 sports Staff: Over 900 coaches, 33 administration staff Total cost: $24.5 million Sport Architecture (Canada) Today, the iconic facility is home to the Institut national du sport du Québec (INS Quebec) at Olympic Park and serves as a multisport training, scientific and medical facility for National Olympic and Paralympic high-performance athletes from across Canada. WORLD SEARCH FOR INSPIRATION INS Québec CEO Marc Gélinas began working with the organization in June 2008 and by September that year a working group was already making plans for its next steps. “We knew other countries were working on a sport institute concept so we researched how that could work for us,” he says. “We ran work sessions and focus groups with coaches, athletes – for both Olympic and Paralympic focuses – scientists and medical staff. We wanted to know what they had seen around the world and asked what we could do to provide athletes with a world-class environment.” To complement what they had heard from participants, the INS executive team visited Australia and England extensively as well as the USOC Training Centre in Colorado Springs. “We’ve also had a lot of exchanges with Spain and locally, we went to several Canadian facilities as well as the Montreal Canadiens’ hockey team training centre in Brossard, Quebec.” Pag. 1/4 After all the research, construction for the INS Quebec began in January 2013 and by opening day in September 2014 the project was on track, on time and on budget. FUTURE VISION During the construction of the Olympic Stadium in the mid-1970s, plans were already being drawn up for future use of the facility. “We found documents that talked about creating an Institute in the Olympic Stadium, even before the Games began. That shows that the architect always intended that a sport institute be built, and here we are now,” says Gélinas. “To me it is important to return to the original focus of a high performance facility – this is why this place was built,” he says. “While that plan had less importance over the years, the Olympic Park people created several fantastic programs for the general population with activities for kids. But now we are allowing high performance sports to come back in and be far more present in the Olympic Park.” Gélinas says with the mixed use of the facilities, athletes have become great role models for the younger population. “While the athletes have priority use, the kids can enjoy watching people like Olympic diving medalist Alexandre Despatie. It’s a great way to influence youth to do sports and to love sport.” PLAYERS OF ALL RANGES So who will be the main participants in the state-of-the-art INS Quebec sports institute? “We will have approximately 475 high performance athletes supported by Sport Canada or the Équipe Québec Program, and 2,000 next generation athletes aspiring to a career in high performance sports,” says Gélinas. “An additional 20,000 younger athletes and those who are part of a sport-study network will also be in the building.” The age range of athletes span from 18 to 25 for the national team, and the junior team ranges from age 16 to 18. UNDER ONE ROOF As its capacity grows, INS Québec aims to play a central role in the delivery of services to forty-four distinctive sport disciplines throughout the province of Quebec. In addition, the Institute has eight resident sports. “Four aquatic sports started here in a concentrated effort in 2007 – swimming, diving, water polo and synchronized swimming,” says Gélinas. “They were a pilot phase of the Institute concept. Then we added judo, fencing and gymnastics. We also have facilities for short track speed skating at the Olympic Park in the Maurice Richard arena. We consider these skaters a resident sport because they come in and train every day and they get their medical and scientific services here as well.” Half of the facilities at INS Quebec are within the Olympic Stadium, in deep right-centre field behind the scoreboard, and the other half are right next to the Olympic pool. “We’ve built the facility right into the stadium, and are creating a world-class environment to provide integrated support to high performance athletes.” The INS Quebec has over 150,000 square feet of floor space, with 92 percent of the space being to practice sport or other purposes, such as sport medicine clinic, scientific laboratories, locker rooms and other facilities. The INS Quebec also leads a network of seven regional multisport training facilities that operates for the benefit of next generation athletes, with more due to open soon. INS Quebec also provides support to 17 single sport training centres servicing high performance and next generation athletes. NOTHING BUT THE BEST From state-of-the-art equipment to the cushioning effect of Mondo rubber flooring, the athletes are being given optimal training conditions. “For judo, fencing and gymnastics, they have one of the best facilities in the world,” says Gélinas. “These sports are starting to get requests from other countries to come work out with athletes here. That is fantastic because now they are getting fighting partners in combat sports, which is critical.” At INS Quebec, sports science and sports medicine support are combined to further create a high-tech environment. The research team looked at some of the most successful athletic countries in the world to see what they are doing. In Barcelona, a sport Institute allows the coaches to collect data and measurements on their athletes. This approach will provide coaches with richer sets of information enabling them to fine tune their athletes’ training. “Every sport works with video data these days so our IT environment allows for collection of video footage. Our staff can also provide scientific analyses of video or force plate data, for example, for their subsequent use with their athletes,” Gélinas notes. AN OUNCE OF PREVENTION … One unique factor offered by INS Quebec is the ability to have an integrated system for sports medicine all in one place. “We really want to play a major role in the prevention aspect for athletes, says Dr. Suzanne Leclerc, medical director. “We’re trying to better understand what the risks for chronic injuries are for the sports and how we can help reduce the incidence of these types of Pag. 2/4 injuries. For example, with swimmers there are a lot of shoulder injuries so we try to develop more functional evaluations and tests to simulate what they are doing in the water. This assists us in creating a program that will prevent future occurrences.” In order to have a full medical program in place for athletes, INS Quebec has multiple medical practitioners in one place. “We have sport medicine medical doctors, sport physiotherapists, massage therapists, sport nutritionists, neuropsychologists for concussion issues, and eye specialists for sport vision, which also addresses issues for people with concussions,” says Leclerc. “This particular area is very important to us as we want to enable prevention, detection and rehabilitation after a concussion incident has occurred.” A cardiac screening program based on the international recommendation for elite athletes, done in collaboration with sport cardiologists, is also available at the INS Quebec. “Being able to interact with the coaches daily, it’s easier to talk to them right after the practice and discuss how to help the athletes better succeed in the future.” Pag. 3/4 Pag. 4/4.
Load more

Recommended publications
  • Free Download
    Tribunal Arbitral du Sport Court of Arbitration for Sport Arbitration CAS 2007/A/1377 Melanie Rinaldi v. Fédération Internationale de Natation (FINA), award of 26 November 2007 Panel: Mr. Quentin Byrne-Sutton (Switzerland), Sole Arbitrator Swimming Change of sport nationality Interpretation and purpose of the requirement of the 12 month prior residence before a change of nationality Compatibility with Swiss Law of FINA GR 2.6 in particular with the principle of protection of personality rights and with the principle of Equality of treatment 1. The wording of GR 2.6 is clear in that it requires that a competitor have truly lived in the country for at least one complete year in order to qualify for a change of national affiliation. Separate stays that correspond to forms of visits rather than to establishing a home would not qualify as periods of residence even if they are numerous. 2. The purpose of GR 2.6 is to regulate changes of sports nationality in manner which preserves the interest of sport, of national federations that “invest” in their athletes and of the athletes. More specifically, in order to be indicative of a real “change” and to prevent “nation shopping”, residence needs to correspond to the centre of the athlete’s activity (in terms of everyday life, training and competing at national level) for a sufficiently significant period of time to establish that the new residence is not fictitious. The wording employed in GR 2.6, which is that a competitor must have resided in the new country for a full year prior to the request for change of affiliation, corresponds to the purpose of the clause.
    [Show full text]
  • Olympic Official Report Montreal 1976 Volume
    Games of the Official Report Volume II XXI Olympiad Facilities Montréal 1976 ©Copyright COJO 76, Ottawa 1978 All rights reserved Printed and bound in Canada Legal Deposit Quebec National Library 2nd Quarter, 1978 2 Table of contents 3 Introduction 9 Abbreviations and Symbols 10 1 The project in general 10 Scope of Installations 13 Organization Chart of the Construction Directorate 14 Chronology of Construction Activity 32 2 The Olympic City 34 The Olympic Park 42 Olympic Stadium 66 Olympic Pool 76 Olympic Velodrome 86 Maurice Richard Arena 90 Pierre Charbonneau Centre 94 Olympic Village 106 International Centre Olympic Village 110 3 Facilities in Greater Montréal 112 Olympic Basin, Notre Dame Island 118 Claude Robillard Centre 124 Étienne Desmarteau Centre 130 St. Michel Arena 134 Paul Sauvé Centre 138 The Forum 144 Winter Stadium University of Montréal 150 Molson Stadium McGill University 156 Road Courses for Cycling and Athletics 164 Training Sites 172 Press Centre 180 COJO Headquarters 184 4 Facilities outside Montréal 186 Olympic Shooting Range, L'Acadie 190 Olympic Archery Field, Joliette 194 Olympic Equestrian Centre, Bromont 202 Le Pavilion d'éducation physique et des sports de I'Université Laval 208 Sherbrooke Stadium 212 Sherbrooke Sports Palace 216 Olympic Yachting Centre, Kingston 226 Varsity Stadium, Toronto 230 Lansdowne Park, Ottawa 235 Appendice 239 Personnel Official Report 7 Olympic Village In 1969, at the time of Montréal's The city then had second thoughts initial bid to host the Games of the XXI and submitted to the International Olympiad, the city had agreed to ob- Olympic Committee (IOC) a project for serve the long-standing tradition of a village consisting of five different locating athletes' living quarters in one buildings, spread over a radius of sev- location close to the main competition eral kilometres from the Olympic Park.
    [Show full text]
  • Cycling Canada
    CYCLING LTAD - VOLUME 1 1 CANADIAN CYCLING ASSOCIATION LONG-TERM ATHLETE DEVELOPMENT VOLUME 1 2 CYCLING LTAD - VOLUME 1 All rights reserved. No part of this work may be reproduced or We acknowledge the financial support of transmitted in any form for commercial purposes, or by any means, the Government of Canada through Sport electronic or mechanical, including photocopying and recording or Canada, a branch of the Department of from any information stored in a retrieval system, without permission Canadian Heritage. from the authors or the Canadian Cycling Association. CCA Long-Term Athlete Development - Volume 1 February 2008 ISBN 978-0-9809082-0-6 LONG-TERM ATHLETE DEVELOPMENT CYCLING LTAD - VOLUME 1 1 Table of Contents Table of Contents 1 Executive Summary 2 Acknowledgements 5 1 - Introduction 6 Guide to the LTAD Plan 7 2 - What is Long-Term Athlete Development? 8 The 10 Key Factors of LTAD 8 The 10 S’s of Training and Performance 10 Critical Periods of Development 13 Complementary Cycling Disciplines and Lifelong Physical Activity 14 Interrelationship of Cycling Disciplines 15 3 - Ages and Stages of Cycling’s LTAD 16 Long-term Development of Cyclists Stage by Stage 17 CCA Development Model for Athletes with a Disability (AWAD - Paralympic or Handisport) 26 4 - Summary 27 5 - References 28 Appendix 1: Glossary of Terms and Abbreviations 29 Appendix 2- Critical Periods of Development 32 Appendix 3: Cycling Values Matrix 33 2 CYCLING LTAD - VOLUME 1 Executive Summary In early 2005, the Canadian Cycling Association (CCA) formed the LTAD Working Group to study ways to improve the development Canadian Cycling: Facts & Figures pathway for Canadian cyclists of all ages and all levels of ability and disability.
    [Show full text]
  • 2011 Annual Report
    Annual Report - 2011 7601 Martin Grove Road VAUGHAN, Ontario L4L 9E4 www.ontariosoccer.net Introduction While 2011 was indeed a time of transition and renewal, the Association also Moving forward, it is very important that Alex Chiet can count on the continued Message from the President accomplished a great deal. Specifically, we introduced, under Alex Chiet, the support and input of every OSA District and Club around this critical program in beginning of our phased-in approach to LTPD. This may be the most important the years to come. step our game—and our Association—has taken on in more than a generation. 2011 was a year of significant “transition and In 2011 we launched our “Respect in Soccer” initiative. While our execution was In 2012 we will continue to build on some of the strategic initiatives we undertook renewal”. While we still have a lot of work to do flawed in terms of how the program was implemented and communicated to our throughout 2011 including: to get where we need to go, I am proud to be membership, that does not diminish the absolute value and importance of this part of an Association that continues to work effort. We have renewed our relationship with Respect in Sport Inc., in order to • Continuing to increase grassroots participation together and make positive change towards the rebuild and continue to execute a stronger program in 2012 and beyond. It is a • Sustaining Club, District, League and Provincial excellence betterment of Soccer in this Province. This would necessary step and timely response that will make our game better—and safer— • Further defining a clear philosophy, with achievable and realistic pathways for not have been possible without the strong for all our, players, coaches, referees and parents.
    [Show full text]
  • Athletcs Ontario High Performance Plan 2019-2021
    ATHLETICS ONTARIO HIGH PERFORMANCE STRATEGIC PLAN 2018 - 2021 Page | 2 Our High Performance Mission To sustain a high performance environment that gives athletes the best opportunity to find success on the international stage, measured by top eight and podium performance finishes. Our High Performance Vision Ontario will continue to be the national leader in National Team International Games medals, reinforced by the continued growth of our grassroots programming, talent identification system, and high performance coach and athlete development. Page | 3 Letter from the CEO, Athletics Ontario Ontario has a long tradition of high-performance achievements in the sport of Athletics, with Ontario athletes consistently representing over 50% of national teams at all major Games and Championships. This High-Performance plan is the blueprint to build and develop Athletics Ontario athletes to ensure continuation of our athletes’ achievements long into the future. Athletics Ontario is responsible for: 1) Developing grass roots programs that teach the fundamentals of athletics 2) Identifying talent and delivering Long-Term-Athletic- Development programs that will foster athletes to greater heights 3) Developing Coaches that will nurture and guide Ontario athletes to higher and higher achievements 4) Collaborating with our National Body, Athletics Canada, to deliver a continuous stream of high- performance athletes into the national programs While this is a significant responsibility for Athletics Ontario and our coaches, athletes & officials, we are confident we are all up to the task. Paul Osland CEO, Athletics Ontario Page | 4 Page | 5 Contents What is Athletics Ontario High Performance? ..................................................... 7 Our High Performance Development Pathway .................................................... 8 Stages of the Athletics Ontario High Performance Development Pathway .........
    [Show full text]
  • Canada Games Cauldron/Torch Design
    Request for Expression of Interest Project: Design of Canada Games Ceremonial Cauldrons and Relay Torches ABOUT THE CANADA GAMES The Canada Games is building the fabric of Canada through the power of sport. Held once every two years, alternating between winter and summer, the Canada Games represent the highest level of national competition for the next generation of Canadian athletes. The Games have been hosted in every province and the Yukon Territory at least once since their inception in Quebec City during Canada’s Centennial in 1967, and are proud of their contribution to Canada’s sport development system in addition to their lasting legacy of sport facilities, community pride, citizen engagement and national unity. ABOUT THE PROJECT The Canada Games Council is currently seeking an emerging designer(s) or artist(s) to develop a new cauldron, mini cauldron and relay torches that would be used for various purposes at future Canada Games. The cauldron is an important symbolic fixture at the Games, and is lit with the flame carried by the relay torches from the Centennial Flame at Parliament Hill in Ottawa. Unlike other prominent sport event cauldrons that are a fixed entity in a host community and remain in the host city once the event has concluded, the intention is for the Canada Games cauldrons and torches to be designed and constructed so they can be transported from one host city to the next for the next 10+ years. The design process will be overseen by CGC’s design Agency of Record, Will Creative, in partnership with a Senior Industrial Designer.
    [Show full text]
  • 2019 CANADA WINTER GAMES Eligibility Restrictions
    1 2019 CANADA WINTER GAMES Eligibility Restrictions V4.0 Eligibility restrictions are aligned to the “Train to Compete” phase of the sport’s Long Term Athlete Development Model, or other suitable phase of LTAD, as justified by NSO and approved by the Canada Games Council. Eligibility restrictions pertain only to the sport in question (i.e. if an athlete has competed in a Senior World Championship in badminton, they are still eligible to compete in the Canada Games in hockey). The Canada Games Council Sport Committee has approved the eligibility restrictions for the following sports on the 2019 Canada Winter Games program: SPORT ELIGIBILITY RESTRICTIONS Alpine Skiing ABLE-BODIED: Excluded from the Canada Games are: ● Senior National Team athletes*; ● Athletes who do not meet the date of birth requirements as determined in section 3 of the Technical Package; ● Athletes that have held an SR1 or SR2 card (as defined by Sport Canada's Athlete Assistance program) at any time; ● Athletes who have previously competed at the following events: Senior World Championships, Olympic Games, or FISU Games; ● U18 athletes must not be FIS registered. PARA-ALPINE: Excluded from the Canada Games are: ● Senior National Team athletes*; ● Athletes who do not meet the date of birth requirements as determined in section 3 of the Technical Package; ● Athletes that have held an SR1 or SR2 card (as defined by Sport Canada's Athlete Assistance program) at any time; ● Athletes who have previously competed at the following events: Senior World Championships, Paralympic Games. Archery Excluded from the Canada Games are: ● Senior National Team athletes*; 2 ● Athletes who do not meet the date of birth requirements as determined in section 3 of the Technical Package; ● Athletes that have held a Senior, SR1 or SR2 card (as defined by Sport Canada's Athlete Assistance program) at any time; ● Athletes who have previously competed at the following events: Senior World Archery Championships, Olympic Games, Commonwealth Games, Pan American Games, FISU Games.
    [Show full text]
  • Medals Matter
    Medals Matter Report on Identifying the Supports Required for Enhanced Performance at the 2021 Canada Summer Games by Newfoundland and Labrador Athletes and Teams Submitted To The Honourable Clyde Jackman Minister of Seniors, Wellness and Social Development December 2014 Explanatory Note: The Task Force Report was commissioned by the former Department of Tourism, Culture and Recreation (TCR), which is referenced throughout the document. Responsibility for Canada Games and competitive sport development now lies with the Department of Seniors, Wellness and Social Development (SWSD). TABLE OF CONTENTS Executive Summary……………………………………………………………………….. 1 Canada Games Overview…………………………………………………………………. 3 Task Force Committee……………………………………………………………………. 4 Terms of Reference, Goals and Scope of Work…………………………………………… 5 Summary of Process………………………………………………………………………. 6 Summary of NL Canada Games Results 2001-2013……………………………………… 7 Benefits of Hosting 2021 Canada Games and Achieving Peak Performance Results…….. 8 Sport Legacy Outcome…………………………………………………………………….. 9 Overview of Consultation Responses……………………………………………………… 10 Challenges, Barriers and Opportunities……………………………………………………. 12 Best Practice Rationale……………………………………………………………………. 20 Recommendations…………………………………………………………………………. 24 Conclusions and Summary………………………………………………………………… 27 Appendix A: Task Force Committee Members and Meeting Dates………………………. 29 Appendix B: Jurisdictional Scan of Other Provinces……………………………………… 31 Appendix C: Online Survey Questions and Responses from Individual and Team Sport
    [Show full text]
  • The Role of the Canada Games in Canadian Sport: Canadian Celebration and Political Tool
    Western University Scholarship@Western Electronic Thesis and Dissertation Repository 6-27-2018 11:00 AM The Role of the Canada Games in Canadian Sport: Canadian Celebration and Political Tool Kerri Bodin The University of Western Ontario Supervisor Misener, Laura The University of Western Ontario Graduate Program in Kinesiology A thesis submitted in partial fulfillment of the equirr ements for the degree in Master of Arts © Kerri Bodin 2018 Follow this and additional works at: https://ir.lib.uwo.ca/etd Part of the Sports Studies Commons Recommended Citation Bodin, Kerri, "The Role of the Canada Games in Canadian Sport: Canadian Celebration and Political Tool" (2018). Electronic Thesis and Dissertation Repository. 5449. https://ir.lib.uwo.ca/etd/5449 This Dissertation/Thesis is brought to you for free and open access by Scholarship@Western. It has been accepted for inclusion in Electronic Thesis and Dissertation Repository by an authorized administrator of Scholarship@Western. For more information, please contact [email protected]. i Abstract This study investigates the Canada Games and their role in the Canadian sport landscape. More broadly, this project aims to uncover the role of sport events as institutions within the field. I used an exploratory case study methodology of the Canada Games to achieve this purpose. I collected documents (i.e. policies, archival documents, reports) and completed nine semi-structured interviews with sport administrators to use as data for this research. I used neo-institutionalism and practice theory as bases for interpretation. The results from my research indicate that there are challenges in achieving the strategic objectives of the Canada Games within the current Canadian sport system.
    [Show full text]
  • The Ukrainian Weekly 2003, No.32
    www.ukrweekly.com INSIDE:• Kyiv court orders closing of youth library — page 3. • Detroit community honors Cardinal Lubomyr Husar — page 9. • Plast campground celebrates 50th anniversary — centerfold. Published by the Ukrainian National Association Inc., a fraternal non-profit association Vol. LXXI HE KRAINIANNo. 32 THE UKRAINIAN WEEKLY SUNDAY, AUGUST 10, 2003 EEKLY$1/$2 in Ukraine ResolutionsT marking U W 70th anniversary of Famine Ukrainianby Roman Woronowycz Gift of Life’sheart surgerysuccess in the U.S. based on simpleSeventy-six desire of the 83 to procedures help Kyiv Press Bureau In Kyiv on July 12 they were feted at undertaken in the United States have introduced in Senate, House an afternoon reception and were part of been surgeries, with two children return- KYIV – When George Kuzma decid- a press conference. In Lviv the follow- ing for additional procedures. All except ed to get into charity work after inadver- ing week they visited the Lviv Regional for one have been successful. The WASHINGTON – Resolutions com- tently becoming involved in a project memorating the 70th anniversary of the Hospital-Surgical Center and took part youngest child to be operated on was sponsored by Rotary International, he in a reunion with more than 500 friends barely 4 months old, while the oldest Ukrainian Famine-Genocide of 1932- was thinking in limited economies of 1933 have been introduced in both the and family members of the children who was in her teens. scale. He was fairly certain that he could United States Senate and the House of have benefited from the project, a group UGOL has tried to have surgery per- convince Northern New Jersey Rotary Representatives.
    [Show full text]
  • Ol' Bear, Ol' Beer, Ol' Broom
    Issue 1 – Saturday, March 2, 2013 • An Official Publication of the Canadian Curling Association. Ol’ Bear, Ol’ Beer, Ol’ Broom Alberta’s Kevin Martin, Ontario’s Glenn Howard and Manitoba’s Jeff Stoughton. This trio has dominated Brier play for the past two decades and are the faves this week in Edmonton again. MIKE BURNS/CCA Page 2 2013 Tim Hortons Brier – Tankard Times Can the Bear protect his den? BY JIM MORRIS The Heart Chart The Old Bear is waiting in his den. Kevin Martin, a world and Olympic champion, wants to make history in his home town at this week’s Tim Hortons Brier. The man nicknamed The Old Bear is clawing to become the first skip to win five Brier titles. Doing it in his own back- yard would make it extra sweet. Martin and his rink of third John Morris, second Marc Ken- nedy and lead Ben Hebert rode a home-town advantage when they won the 2009 Olympic trials in Edmonton. They went on to win the gold medal at the 2010 Olympic Games in Vancou- ver. “That was awesome,” said Martin, eyes shining at the mem- ory. “The energy of the crowd is really something when you are the home team. “At the Brier . everybody is wearing their provincial col- ours. It’s just going to be a hoot.” The only other skips with four Brier wins are Randy Ferbey and Ernie Richardson. A field of 11 other teams will be laying traps from Mar- tin. Among the rinks hunting bear at this year’s competition, which begins Saturday at Rexall Place, will be Ontario’s Glenn Howard, the defending Brier and world champion who is mak- ing his record 15th appearance at the Canadian men’s curling championship; Manitoba’s Jeff Stoughton, the 2011 Brier and world champion; Brad Gushue of Newfoundland/Labrador, the 2006 Olympic gold medallist; and Quebec’s Jean-Michel Menard, the 2006 Brier champion.
    [Show full text]
  • Meaghan Benfeito Is Ready to Dethrone the Chinese Rivals in the Duna Arena
    http://fina-budapest2017.com/en/news/391/meaghan-benfeito-is-ready-to-dethrone-the-chinese-rivals-in-the-duna-arena Meaghan Benfeito is ready to dethrone the Chinese rivals in the Duna Arena 2017.04.07. 09:07 CET Diving has been dominated by the Chinese for many years, but there are some other countries, whose representatives have also been successful in this beautiful sport. Canadian Meaghan Benfeito has won plenty of medals in major events during her career at the Olympic Games and the FINA World Championships, most of them with her partner Roseline Filion. The 28-year-old athlete’s ambition is to compete at the 2020 Olympics in Tokyo, and the 17th FINA World Championships could be a very important step towards that. Meaghan Benfeito originally competed in swimming but switched after watching fellow Canadian divers Emilie Heymans and Alexandre Despatie dive. She became member of the Canadian national team in 2005, and she has been competing together with Roseline Filion in the 10m synchronised event. The pair surprisingly won the bronze medal at the 2005 FINA World Championships that was held in Benfeito’s home town Montreal. The young Canadian was only 16 years old. Benfeito and Filion has been inseparable since then, and they have achieved a lot of good results together. They finished third at the 2006 Commonwealth Games in Melbourne as well, and they qualified for the Beijing Olympics after they beat teammates Heymans and Marie-Eve Marleau. In Beijing they failed to win a medal (they finished 7th), but four years later at the London Olympics they won the bronze medal in the 10m synchro.
    [Show full text]