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After checking out the site of my try tri to see if he could make it to watch me, my brother saw that there was a Du of swimming and cycling at the event and told me had he known that, he would have trained. Regardless, he is going to give it a go next year. The first step for him was quitting smoking. I really hope he can stay committed. He's quit before. His decision to train has also been a nice motivation for me. Nothing like a little sibling rivalry! I'm glad that I have the upper hand right now. I'm sure he's going to catch up to me though (hopefully he's not reading this, it will make him smug).

Dustin Hodgson plays paralympic soccer for Team Canada. He's been playing since he was 6 and his Cerebral Palsy doesn't hold him back. In fact, his nickname is The Turbo, for his speed. He is dedicated to his sport, training 7 days a week. Rtbot.net explains: The sport is played with modified FIFA rules. Among the modifications are a reduced field of play, a reduction in the number of players, elimination of the offside rule, and permission for one-handed throw-ins.

Meaghan Benfeito is the second half of the 10m synchronized divers. This is her second time heading to the games and will also be competing in the individual event. She started because of that her now teammates Emilie Heymans and Alexander Despatie. She hails from Montreal and can be found on twitter @megbenfeito. 



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Austin Hinchey is a paralympic athlete representing Canada in sitting volleyball. His nickname is The Conductor for his leadership qualities. He's an amazing athlete and the youngest captain in the sport. He's a perpetual optimist who trains 5 days a week for at least two hours a day. He also competes for UBC as an able-bodied athlete.

Tonya Verbeek is a female wrestler. Her name may sound familiar as this is not her first time Heading to the Olympics. It is, in fact, her third time competing. Her name may also sound familiar because she's won, oh you know, just 2 Olympic medals. In 2004 she won a silver and 2008 a bronze. She's a definite medal contender this time around as well. 



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Kyle Jones is heading to the Olympics for the first time to compete in the Triathlon. He had a great year last year winning several golds in various events. He was born in the Hammer and trains in Victoria. He followed in his dad's footsteps as he was also a triathlete. He's the youngest male on the tri team being 27.

Tera Van Beilen is a contender at the games doing 100m and 200m breaststroke. She comes from an athletic family with an uncle who played in the NHL and another who plays in the NFL. She's currently studying and training at UBC.  You can find her on twitter @tervb

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Reid Coolsaet placed third in the Toronto Waterfront Marathon in order to qualify for the Olympic Marathon. The Canadian record time for marathon has held strong for 36 years. The first time he ran a marathon he won the national championship. His website is reidcoolsaet.com and Twitter handle is @reidcoolsaet. I started reading his blog and really enjoyed it. I recommend it, especially for runners. Oh! I also forgot to mention- he's from Hamilton.

Sarah Hunter is a wheelchair tennis player aptly nicknamed the hunter. Her background as explained on paralympic.ca is impressive "A hockey injury left her disabled in 1997. Discovered tennis and fell in love with the sport. Headed to Florida for the first tournament of her career. She then became the first woman to compete at the pro men’s level in the Quad Division. Now the top-ranked player in Canada and 5th in the world".

I'm definitely going to be looking forward to see how she fares at the games. Also on paralympic.ca her training regime: "Four to five days on the court every week. Works out three times a week. Swims twice a week. Sees a sports psychologist to make sure her mental game is as sharp as her physical one." A really great article about Sarah can be found here: http://www.macleans.ca/article.jsp?content=20070924_109277_109277

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Pierre Mainville is a paralympic wheelchair fencer known for being a perfectionist. He's a paraplegic as a result of being shot by a sniper. In less than 4 years he's become one of the world's best. He's earned a host of medals, most recently at last years panam games. He devotes a lot of time to his training- 4-6 hours 5 days a week, plus weight training. He is also the first Canadian to ever medal in wheelchair fencing.

Shona Thorburn is a member of the Canadian women's basketball team. She played 2 years in the WNBA and is now playing in Spain. This is going to be her first Olympic appearance after Canada beat Japan to earn a berth in the Games. She was born in England but is a local girl, having graduated from Westdale Secondary here in Hamilton. The last time Canada had a women's basketball team at the Olympics was in 2000. 

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Douglas Csima is another member of the men's 8 rowing team. This is his first time attending the Olympics and he is familiar with international competition having medalled in the worlds in 2009 and 2011. He took up rowing after finding out McMaster didn't have a hockey team. He's also a RN and Masters student at The UVic.His twitter handle is @dougcsima.

From a rookie to a veteran in today's post. Diane Roy has been competing in wheelchair racing since 1992 after an ATV accident left her without feeling in her legs. She's earned the nickname the Warhorse. In 2008 she won a silver and 2 bronze. She uses a very specifically designed wheelchair built just for her. She is incredibly committed to her sport training twice a day 6 days a week and in Florida in the winter months. Heading into these Games she's had to overcome what her website describes as a "Gold medal disappointment: 
In September 2008, the Paralympic Games were held in Beijing, China. During this competition, Diane suffered an unimaginable disappointment, the likes of which had never been seen before in competition. In the 5000 m wheelchair final, Diane won the gold medal… only to lose it due to an appeal submitted by 3 countries’ associations after a terrible collision that involved several of the racers.

The appeal committee’s ultimate decision was to invalidate the results of the original final and set a second final race for several days later; this was on top of Diane’s already jam-packed race schedule, not to mention how it affected her psychological preparation.

The race should never have been re-scheduled, since collisions and falls in wheelchair racing are not uncommon. Final races are never re-run, in any sport.

But the real problem with the appeal decision was that it occurred only after the medal ceremony had taken place. There appears to have been a miscommunication between the appeal committee and the medal ceremony committee.

So, after having won the race before a crowd of 90,000 spectators (winning her first gold medal ever at a Paralympic Games), risen to the highest step of the podium, received her medal and bouquet and heard her national anthem played, Diane learned just a few minutes later that the race would be held again!

Diane went from a moment of glory to one of profound disappointment in an instant; this was an incredible injustice and a cruel gesture. The race went ahead a second time and Diane finished in the second-place position, just one one-hundredth of a second away from the gold medal…" (dianeroy.com).

Diane is also an inductee into the Terry Fox Hall of Fame.

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We're into single digits here people!

Jay Milley aka the Iceman is a Paralympic cyclist. He's a quadruple amputee and also skis, snowboards, hikes, and runs (he does more sports than me) and trains 6 days a week. Holy inspirational! Paralympic.ca offers an explanation of how he accommodates while cycling he "has false legs that clip onto his bike pedals. One leg is longer than the other, so he uses a custom-built crank arm to compensate. Has a prosthetic arm on his left. To make up for his lack of fingers, which prohibits him from using normal brakes, he has a special push back bar at the rear of his seat –when he wants to stop, he simply leans back.". After winning a gold at a paralympic event in Australia last year he is a promising contender.

Sinead Russell is the sister of Colin who I'd previously written about. She's competing in the 100m backstroke.This is her first trip to the Big Show. Like her brother she had to persevere and cope with her father's decisions.

Thestar.com provides an explanation of his history:
"Cecil Russell has twice been banned from coaching for life for his involvement in illegal steroid and ecstasy rings. At the 1997 murder trial of one of his steroid trafficking associates, Russell admitted helping burn and dispose of the victim’s butchered body in a corn silo beside his Oshawa home.
But Russell kept coaching despite the ban, getting his Oakville Dolphins Swim Club suspended and its prime pool time yanked by the township. With Dad watching from the stands here at the 1976 Olympic pool Wednesday night, his daughter was swimming for the Toronto Blue Waves, an unheralded club out of High Park."

Although young, she's making a splash (see what I did there?) and has met with success swimming various distances. She's still young and has a long career ahead of her. To calm any nerves before races, Sinead likes to read or cook and enjoys running, drawing and instrumental music.

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I went camping this weekend with a few friends and had a grand time. I also got in a swim and run combo. The advice that my friend who's done a sprint tri keeps giving me is to know what it feels like to run on tired legs. You know, good ole rubber legs. Since the tri is under a month away I figured I would heed this advice. I didn't have anything to measure any of my distances which is always a frustration for me but I think I did a 300 m swim and 2, or 2.5k running. I have no idea how long it took either.

I DO know that running on tired legs wasn't as bad as I'd feared. Being tired means that I stay nice and loose. So I rather enjoyed the run, plus I was nice and cool from swimming. I realize I was missing the ever daunting 10k in the middle but I survived doing this in the blazing heat in the early afternoon and wasn't miserable. All good.

As I ran I also though about how the tri was less than a month away and I hadn't done near the training that I had wanted to. I also thought about the Olympics, of course and American Ninja Warrior and kept going.

Someone else who draws inspiration from our Olympians is Jeremiah Brown. He  is one of the men rowing in the men's 8. He was inspired by the men's 8 who rowed to gold in 2008 and took up the sport. He has a connection to my hometown as he was born there and played football at Mac. He's also a blogger (http://jeremiahbrown.wordpress.com/) and can be found on Twitter at @JeremiahFBrown

Lauren Barwick is a Paralympian competing in Equestrian. Her nickname is the Centaur because of the connection between her and her mount. She started riding at the young age of 7 and became paralyzed 12 years ago when a bale of hay fell on her. A year and a half after her injury she was back computing. She's met with great success winning gold and silver in 2008. How does she do it? Paralympic.ca explains, she "has a custom adapted saddle with special knee rolls, a Velcro strap over her thighs and elasticized straps to keep her feet in the stirrups. By adjusting her seat’s movement with her torso, she can change the direction and speed of her horse. She has a small handle bar at the front of her saddle to grab hold of if she becomes unbalanced. During competitions, she uses two whips that act as her legs, along with a system of audio clues - clucks and kisses – that allow her to further finesse her control." You can find a great little piece that Lauren wrote before the 2008 Games here: http://laurenbarwick.typepad.com/the_road_to_bejing/a-little-bit-about-lauren.html

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Justin Karn, aka the badger is a paralympian competing in judo. He is visually impaired in paralympic judo the contestants must be in physical contact at all times. Justin hails from Waterloo (I am a UW grad and have a soft spot for the city). Justin started judo when he was 13 and has been doing it for almost 2 decades now. He is well respected and feared for his choke holds (I'm not surprised...). He is a major contender having won bronze at the Parapan Games last year. He trains until the movements become second nature so that he can outwit and outlast his contenders. To achieve this he trains for 40 hours a week.

Natalie Mastracci is one of the members of the women's 8 rowing team. This will be her first trip to the Olympics. She started rowing in her last year of highschool and was noticed because of her success on the ergometer machines. She won silver with her crew last year at the worlds. Natalie earned herself a scholarship to Syracuse University and is pre-med. Her Twitter is: @nmastracci 

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Well there's HUGE news coming out of the Canadian Olympic Committee camp today. With just 15 days to go until the Opening ceremonies the announcement has been made: Simon Whitfield has been named the flag bearer for the opening ceremonies. A great selection in a field of amazing athletes. He's a personal inspiration so I am very very happy for him! Article: http://www.cbc.ca/olympics/story/2012/07/12/sp-olympics-flag-bearer-canada.html

Milos Raonic is a tennis player representing Canada at the Olympic games. He's only 21 and is ranked 21st in the world. This is the top ranking of any Canadian single male. Ever.

Milos is known for his powerful and accurate serve.He was considered a Dark Horse this year at Wimbeldon, where last year he injured himself and required surgery. The tennis world was abuzz about him. A positive sign heading into what will be his first Olympic appearance.
He moved to Canada from Montenegro at the age of 3. He's also passionate about sport and country, just as an Olympian should be: "In an interview after his third round win at the 2011 Australian Open it was questioned if he would follow in the footsteps of Greg Rusedski, the last great Canadian tennis player who ended up playing for his second nationality in Great Britain. When asked if he would continue to play for Canada he replied "Yes". Raonic has shown a passion for Canada and the game of tennis in the country. This was displayed in an October, 2010 interview where he said of the matter that "I want to make a singles career, I enjoy it more and I want to make a difference in Canada with it. I feel if I were to achieve my goals it could make a great difference to the growth of tennis in Canada and help to produce more top players in the future" (Wikipedia). You can follow him on Twitter: @milosraonic and his website is: milosraonic.ca/blog/

Victoria Nolan is a paralympic rower. She's nicknamed the metronome for her ability to synchronize with her other rowers. She was diagnosed with an eye disease at 18 and lost all but 3% of her vision after the birth of her 2nd child. In order to overcome depression she began adaptive rowing. She trains 6 days a week listening to the seats of her teammates in order to time her strokes. She's also an activist , challenging and informing people of guide dog bylaws and ability. Victoria is also a teacher who is constantly on the go and fits work outs into her lunch breaks. Amazing.

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Adam Dukovich aka Deadeye is one of the world's top 5 athletes in bocccia. He uses video, physio therapy and psychological training to compensate for his Cerebral Palsy. He is incredibly committed to his sport, training 30 hours a week. He reports that he would spend his last $20 on beer. A true Canadian boy. Care of Wikipedia: "The aim of the game is to throw leather balls - coloured red or blue (which side gets which is determined by a coin toss) - as close as they can to a white target ball, or jack. The jack is thrown first, then the first two regular balls are played, (first, the player who threw the jack then the opposing side), after which, the side furthest away from the jack goes next in an attempt to either get closer to the jack or knock the opposition's ball out of the way."

Phylicia, front and center.

Phylicia George is a member of the Athletics team who specialized in the 100m hurdles. At the World Championships in South Korea last year she placed 7th. Again a description of the sport from Wikipedia, "The 100 m hurdles are an Olympic track and field athletics discipline run by women (the male counterpart is the 110 metres hurdles). For the race ten hurdles of a height of 83.8 cm (2 feet 9 inches) are placed evenly spaced along a straight course of 100 metres. They are positioned so that they will fall over if bumped into by the runner. Fallen hurdles don't count against runners so long as they don't run into them on purpose. Like the 100 metre sprint the 100 m hurdles is started out of the blocks."

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Michael Wilkinson is a member of Canada's strong rowing team which is projected to medal at these Games. He is competing in men's double skulls. Rowing is a family affair for the Wilkinsons as his sister, Lauren is on the Women's 8 team. This is the 25 year old's first Games.

Summer Mortimer is a Paralympic Swimmer who hails from nearby Ancaster. She's earned her nickname The Storm because of her strength and force. She had a trampoline accident that left her with no range of motion in her feet. She is the world record holder in 5 different races. Her family is part of the swimming industry so she was brought up in the water. She trains year round 6 days in the pool and 4 in the gym. She admits that she's driven, saying "Can't is not a word in my vocabulary".

She competed in the 2008 Olympic trials. This all changed with her accident when she missed a foam pit coming off a trampoline and crushed the bones in her feet. Following this, she spent 6 months in a wheelchair with Drs considering amputating her feet. It wasn't clear that she would walk again, but she did. She says, “I feel going from able bodied to para has allowed me to be grateful, even when my feet hurt and I don’t want to get in the pool, it could have been a lot worse; I could have died had I landed within an inch of where I did. I try to look at the positive side. I try to be optimistic. (http://www.toronto2015.org/lang/en/gallery/news/the-pain-filled-road-to-crushing-world-records-one-athletes-story.html)”

Her Twitter handle is: @summermortimer and website is: http://www.themortimertwins.com/

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Yesterday I spent the day at the lake. I did a swim and a bike, Using various people's extremely scientific guesstimations (on was an OPP officer and the other a traffic engineer, I trust their judgement) I thin my swim was about 500m. I think I managed to stay in a pretty straight line. I also managed to get water in my ears. The were both plugged but the right one incredibly badly. It still is today. Investing in ear plugs will be a definite must. The swim went well. I like it. Then I cycled and it was ok. I just kind of pedalled around for half an hour. I have no guess as to the distance I did. I could feel that my legs were tired later in the day just swimming around for fun and when I went to bed I was exhausted. It was a great day. Putting the two together and not being dead tired afterwards is a good sign.

Here's a good link about great sportsmanship. I've posted about a couple of the events they're talking about before: http://www.buzzfeed.com/jpmoore/the-10-most-heartwarming-moments-of-sportsmanship

Patrice Simard is a *Wheelchair Rugby player (Wait, what?! Wheelchair Rugby? Intense. I need to brush up on my knowledge of paralympic sports). He's nicknamed the Pit bull for his ferocity. After a car accident that caused a spinal cord injury he started playing. He's now considered one of the world's best defensive players. He won silver in 2004 and bronze in '08. This year he's going for gold, to have a complete set. If you get the chance google wheelchair rugby and take a look at some of the pictures. They really demonstrate the aggressiveness of the sport.

* All right, while doing a bit of research for this piece I found out that Wheelchair Rugby has undergone a name change, it was previously known as murderball . I am familiar with this. So I'm not so out of the loop as I thought.

Karen Cockburn is a Canadian Trampolinist (I think I just made that word up). It seems that we're going to be quite a dominant force at the games in this event. This is the 3rd athlete that is considered a medal contender that I've written about. If she medals this time around, she's going to be the first Canadian athlete to attend 4 Games and medal at 4 Games. She won a bronze in 2000 and a silver in the following 2 Games. If her name sounds familiar it may be because she also was the flag bearer at the closing ceremonies in Bejing. She's been competing in the sport since she was 11. Just last month she won Bronze at the World Cup in Spain. She is also an ambassador for At My Best and Canadian Tire Jumpstart. If you want to learn more about Karen you can read her book: Karen Cockburn:Soaring High. Her Twitter Handle is: @karen_cockburn and website can be found at: karen-cockburn.ca/

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Ian Millar is part of the Canadian equestrian team and has been on 9 other occasions. With his 10th appearance at the 2012 games he will have set the record for attending the most Games. He was once a stockbroker and has become one of Canada's most decorated athletes, earning the name Captain Canada. Millar became a member of the order of Canada in 1986. 2008 was an exciting Games for Millar On 18 August, at the age of 61, Millar anchored his team  to a first-place standing. Riding mount In Style, he came through in the clutch with a perfect run to lead the Canadian team into a jump-off for gold with the United States. In the team equestrian gold-medal jump-off, Canada won the silver medal, Millar's first Olympic medal. About his spot on the 2012 team he said. “I am extremely excited to have been chosen to represent Canada at my 10th Olympic Games. I am very proud of the Team that has been chosen by Equine Canada and Jump Canada to represent Show Jumping at this year’s Olympic Games in London. I believe we will do Canada proud” (olympic.ca).  He is also a contender to carry the flag for Team Canada at the Opening Ceremonies. His website is:

millarbrookefarm.com 

Michelle Stilwell is a paralympic wheelchair racer. Her nickname is The Mastermind. At the age of 17 Michelle was rendered quadriplegic after falling from a friends back while piggyback riding. She started her athletic career playing wheelchair basketball and went to Sydney in 2000 as part of the team. She had then taken up athletics. During races she doesn't pay attention to her competitors keeping focused on technique. For health she follows a raw/vegan diet. Her website can be found at: http://mikeystilwell.com/ and you can follow her on Twitter at @mikeystilwell

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Eric Lamaze is a member of the Equestrian team as a show jumper. A contentious member of our Olympic team. He has twice tested positive for drugs meaning withdrawn Olympic bids. He kicked his addiction and won a gold medal individually in 2008 and silver in the team event. Eric's horse, Hickstead (who he rode to gold on), tragically died this past November during competition. This horse was described as small in stature huge in heart. If interested here's a link to the incredibly sad event (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zoL5b-KJUvo). Recently Eric has said,

“The personal setback was something we put behind us a long time ago, but the setback last year was close to home in a sense of the relationship you have with a horse like Hickstead.For me, it a tragedy that was harder to deal with because it’s sort of like losing a family member. It’s not a racket and your string broke.” (thestar.com). He also contemplated giving up the sport after Since then Lamaze had been riding 7 different horses, narrowed it down to 2 for Spruce Meadows last week and chose Verdi, a horse with little international experience. He is currently ranked third in the world.

Here's a brief history of the event via EquineCanada.ca:

What is Showjumping?

Show jumping emerged from the sport of fox hunting. As an ever-increasing amount of England’s countryside became partitioned by fences beginning in the late Eighteenth Century, both hunter and horse required skills necessary to keep chase, despite the presence of these new barricades.

The discipline started to resemble what we know as show jumping today in the Nineteenth Century as competitions moved from cross-country expanses to smaller, enclosed venues where spectators could better enjoy the action.

The second, modern Olympic games (Paris, 1900) featured many of the individual elements of the contemporary discipline in the equestrian long and high jump, but it was not until the 1912 Games that genuine show jumping became a recognized event.

As someone who used to horseback ride recreationally, I know how difficult a sport equestrian it is. Your forge a real relationship with your horse. It is one of the most exciting sports to watch, when you see that hoof hit the rail and hold your breath hoping against hope that it will just rock in the cup and not fall to the ground in an echoing clatter only to see it settle again and you breathe your sigh of relief it is like no other. You cheer for a team knowing that rider and horse have to be completely in sync and that there's a level of trust for rider and animal that is unparalleled. Additionally, I was at the Royal Winter Fair just a couple of days after Hickstead's death and Eric rode finishing the course to a standing ovation from the crowd. I was pretty emotional, I don't know how he held it together. I will be looking forward to watching our team compete and holding my breath with the rest of the country before each jump.

Robbi Weldon is a Paralympic cycler. She has a crazy amount of endurance and strength which has garnered her the nickname 'Thunder'. "At age 15 was diagnosed with Stargardt’s Disease, a macular degeneration affecting central vision. Now has six percent of her sight. Started competitive tandem cycling just two years ago. A few months later, she won gold and silver at the 2010 World Championships in Baie-Comeau, Québec" (paralympic.ca). In order to compete, she and her tandem rider must pedal in complete synchronicity and share the power load in order to move forward. Robbi is the first athlete that I've profiled who is a duo Olympian cycling in the summer games and skiing in the winter. She trains aproximately seven to eight hundred hours a year. The Star wrote a great article about her and can be found here: http://www.thestar.com/sports/london2012/cycling/article/1174477--paralympic-powerhouse-robbi-weldon-looks-to-london. Her site can be found at: http://robbiweldon.ca/index.php.

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Paul Tingley is a paralympic athlete that has earned the nickname 'The Gambler' for the amount of risks he takes in his sport. He's one of the top competitors in the world, even among able bodied sailers. In Paul's own words this is how he became involved in the sport "Until 1994, skiing was my sport. I loved the feel of the wind on my face as I flew down the slopes. Then one night skiing changed my life. I hit a jump with too much speed. The resulting fall broke my back, causing a permanent spinal cord injury.

I realized that my mobility would forever be linked to a wheelchair. My life was never going to be the same. At the time, I was very depressed. When I started my rehabilitation, I found I had to learn to do many routine things all over again. As I mastered everyday tasks, I found myself yearning for a more active lifestyle.

My physiotherapist talked to me about sailing for disabled persons. Once I tried it I was hooked. However, I had much to learn about sailing. So I trained 20 hours a week and attended numerous regattas. Thankfully, I had lots of support. As a novice sailor and athlete I was able to access the specialized equipment, expert coaches and sports associations I needed to help me on my way" (paralympicfoundation.ca). He's a Halifax boy. He won bronze in 200 and gold in 2008. So we can hope for success from Paul at these Games. His boat is outfitted with a joystick and foot control levers. His method to success is imitating his competitors decisions, figuring othe geometry of his sails and then with all this knowledge, he follows his gut.

Mary Spencer is a boxer. She's going to be representing Canada in this debut sport. I am incredibly excited to watch her in action. Mary have a proven record of winning (even more than Charlie Sheen).  She's a 3 time World Champ. As of July 26, 2011, her amateur record is 115 wins, 9 losses. "She has been named ‘one to watch’ for The Canadian Association for the Advancement of Women and Sport and Physical Activity’s Most Influential Women list and is a Member of Motivate Canada’s GEN 7 Aboriginal role model initiative. She was also chosen by Proctor and Gamble as a CoverGirl for 2012. (Olympic.ca)" Follow this inspiration woman on Twitter at @Canadianboxer or her website: maryspencer.ca 

In addition to sport did you know that poetry has a relationship to the Olympics? Read about it here: http://www.nytimes.com/2012/07/01/books/review/poetrys-relationship-with-the-olympics.html?_r=2&pagewanted=2

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Ryan Cochrane is a feestyle swimmer who specialises in the 400 800 and 1500m freestyle. He brought home a bronze last Summer games and it looking to stand at the top of the podium this time around. He's a focussed swimmer with no time left for hobbies. He hails from Victoria B.C. His website is: ryancochrane.ca and his twitter handle is:@cochraneryan

Cindy Ouellet is today's featured female athlete. Her sport: Paralympic Wheelchair Basketball, her nickname: The Hornet. She only began playing in 2005 after a physiotherapist introduced her to the sport. 2 years later she was winning gold medals at the Canada games. She is considered one of the best defensive players in the game and is constantly pushing her opponents so that they make a mistake and then goes in for the attack. She trains with a mix of cardio and weights multiple times a day and plays 4 games on weekends, perfecting her skills. "She was a top flight skier and a provincial level soccer player before being struck with bone cancer in her hip at age 12. Cindy was named 2012 Wheelchair Basketball Canada Female Athlete of the Year (www.wheelchairbasketball.ca) .Follow her on twitter at: @SevenCan_CO.