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Melanie Kok Canadian Medal Rower

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Melanie Kok Canadian Medal Rower Rachel Brouwer and Hannah Van de Kemp Dr. Byl PED 201 30 March 2011 The Life and Times of Melanie Kok Canadian Medal Rower Melanie Kok was born on November 4th, 1983 in Thunder Bay, Ontario and was raised in St. Catherine’s Ontario. After a successful start with rowing in high school, shereceived a scholarship with the University of Virgin in Charlottesville Virginia. Melanie was not only successful in obtaining her BA in Psychology, but also thrived in the sport of rowing, winning many medals. After studying in at Virginia, she went to McMaster University in Hamilton, Ontario, where she completed her Master of Science in Neuroscience. She is currently attending Western University in London, Ontario and hoping to receive her Doctor of Philosophy in Neuroscience. Who to Watch This Spring (University of Virginia Magazine) Melanie became a rower you could say by chance. Her best friend was a coxswain, someone in charge of the boats rowing, and asked Melanie if she wanted to join the rowing team. She loved the outdoors, and “found the water gorgeous and full of possibility.” So when given the chance to give it a try she decided to go for it. Melanie worked very hard at rowing and she had people from many Universities and Colleges knocking at her door, she eventually decided to go to Virginia over Princeton and many others. She showed that she was dedicated to her rowing by getting up for 5am 1 practice, making it through grueling weight lifting sessions, and sticking with it, even when it was hard or 5am came too soon. Kok has experienced competitive races before but as she states in the article “ I’ve been to two World Championships, but the Olympics is just a different level, I don’t think it will sink in for me until I get there” Kok is not only an athletic performer but she is also an All‐ACC academic performer, she made sure that her schooling came first. And she stated, “I’ve learned through rowing that I was stronger that I ever thought I was… and that you can accomplish anything simply by working hard to reach a goal. Toronto’s Beare among Medal Winners in Four‐Medal Day(GTA athletes) Melanie has also won many medals before participating in the Olympics. She has also received third place in the world cup in women’s lightweight rowing in Lucerne, Switzerland in 2008, first in 2008 in Poznan, Poland along with a few more medals. She has also been named athlete of the year in her home town, St. Catherine’s when she was twenty‐ four years old in 2005 when she was a member of the Ridley Graduate club. Melanie works very hard at rowing and she had people from many Universities and Colleges knocking at her door, she eventually decided to go to Virginia over Princeton and many others. She showed that she was dedicated to her rowing by getting up for 5am practice, and making it through intense weight lifting sessions. Kok has experienced competitive races before but as she states in the article, “I’ve been to two World Championships, but the Olympics is just a different level, I don’t think it will sink in for me until I get there” Kok is not only an athletic performer but she is also 2 an All‐ACC academic performer, she made sure that her schooling came first. And she stated, “I’ve learned through rowing that I was stronger that I ever thought I was… and that you can accomplish anything simply by working hard to reach a goal.” Rowers Win Bronze in Double Skulls(Ottawa Citizen) Kok and Cameron both partook in summer Olympics 2008 in Beijing on the Canadian lightweight double skull team. They were in second place half way through the race, right behind the Germans. Finland passed both the Canadian team and the German team and resulted in winning silver medal while Netherlands won gold and Kok and Cameron received bronze; they won by 0.04 seconds. Kok and Cameron had a time of 6: 56.68 and Germans came through with 6:56.72. Talk about a fast race! Watching What They Eat… (Torstar News Services) Melanie Kok and Tracy Cameron have made sure that they are will be successful in Beijing by eating right and making good use of their trusty George Foreman grill. At first they were just crewmates but became fast friends. That relationship transferred into a medal winning career and friendship. They watch what they eat, and even when on the road andrefuseto eat out, often creating makeshift kitchens in the hotel room. They bring their George Foreman, skillet and rice steamer are able to prepare for all the meals they need while away from the house. Coming into the Beijing Olympics the two rowers were almost unknown and it as a chance to make a name for them, showing people what they were capable of while 3 keeping each other accountable through the journey. It was not all work for the two hardworking driven ladies and on weekends when they do not have to train they go on little getaways together, exploring Southern Ontario on little day trips. However, they make sure never to get side tracked away from their main goal, “Of course, we’re going to gold. That’s everyone’s goal. I think you have to have that in mind. But we’re breaking down what we need to do to accomplish that. So it’s not just this, ‘Yeah we’re going for gold’ We bring it back to, ‘How are we going to get that goal medal?’.” McMaster catches Olympic Fever (Daily News Article, McMaster University) In the most recent Winter Olympics in Vancouver, Canada this past year, Melanie had the privilege of carrying the torch in Welland this past December. As a child Kok was a huge fan of the Olympics and she feels grateful not only be a part of the 2008 Summer Olympics in Beijijng, but also tocarry the flamerepresenting Canada. 4 Melanie Kok’s Accomplishments 2002: Women’s British Henley 1st in the college 2003: Rowing Canada Female Sculler of the Year/ three Canadian Henley golds/ three Canada Cup golds 2004: Rowing Canada Female Sculler of the year/ Row Ontario Athlete of the Year/ four Canadian Henley golds. 2005: 2nd in NCAA team championships (U. of Virginia) 2005: 8th in women’s lightweight double, World Cup (Lucerne, Switzerland) 2007: 3rd in women’s lightweight single‐ World rowing Championships 2008: 3rd in women’s lightweight. 2x, World Cup (Lucerne, Switzerland) 2008: 1st in women’s lightweight. 2x, World Cup (Poznan, Poland) 2008: 3rd in women’s lightweight double ( Summer Olympics in Beijing) 5 Bibliography Byers, Jim.“Toronto’s Beare among Medal Winners in Four‐Medal Day”. http://www.gtaathletes.com/2008/article/105909. (Viewed February 1) CanWest News Service.“Rowers Win Bronze in Double Skulls”. Ottawa Citizen. http://www.canada.com/ottawacitizen/news/story.html?id=e5fc665e‐5da5‐ 44ef‐9a03‐f134cd171475 (Viewed February 1, 2011) Miller, Jerry. “Who to Watch This Spring” University of Virginia Magazine. http://uvamagazine.org/sports/article/who_to_watch_this_spring/ (Viewed January 31, 2011) Starkman, Randy. “Rowers Cameron and Kok are Fast Friends: Watching What They Eat inOrder to Make Weight.” Torstar News Services. http://www.gtaathletes.com/2008/article/104629(Viewed January 31, 2011) No Author. “McMaster catches Olympic Fever.” Daily News Article, McMaster University. http://dailynews.mcmaster.ca/story.cfm?id=6526# (Viewed January 31, 2011) 6 Interview with Melanie Kok Melanie Kok, who competed in lightweight women’s double skulls rowing in the 2008 Olympics in Beijing won a bronze medal with her partner Tracy Cameron. 1.)Who introduced her to the sport she was/is involved in? Before Melanie got heavily involved in rowing she got involved through playing soccer first. One of her best friends from her soccer team was a coxswain (which is a rower who is in charge of the boat) from her high school’s only boat and she asked her to try it out. Rowing intrigued her and two people from the team just graduated so they were looking for two new people to fill the empty spots. So she thought she would try it out and ended up falling in love with the challenge of it, and has never looked back ever since. Melanie’s friend that had introduced her to rowing is still today her best friend and was also a member of the Canadian rowing team. 2.) How did she get involved? Melanie got involved by joining her high school team and was fortunate enough to have both a great coach and great teammates. As a result, she had a great experience. When the high school season had finished, she joined a local club. She says she was lucky to have grown up in St. Catherine’s, which has a strong rowing history, and a number of successful clubs. 3.) What were here greatest highlight(s) of her sporting career? Melanie’s greatest highlight(s) of her sporting career would be rowing at the University of Virginia. Her teammates were and are amazing athletes; as well as amazing people and she had also had great coaches. She says she probably would not have 7 gotten to the Olympics if it were not from her collegiate rowing experience. It was an easy transition for her from rowing on her collegiate team to rowing with the national team, they trained so hard and it was always so competitive at school. Olympics in general were also a huge highlight for her.
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