Burnaby NOW • Saturday, April 2, 2011 • A27
28 SFU athlete awards
28 Saint tops Div. II lax
29 Honours for minor pros
SECTION COORDINATOR Tom Berridge, 604-444-3022 • tberridge@burnabynow.com
Swim teen ready to take her place Tom Berridge
sports editor
Some might call Mariya Chekanovych’s Olympic ambition, the road to Rio. That’s where the now 16-yearold Simon Fraser Aquatics swimmer believes her moment might very well come. “Of course, it’s a matter of time, practice and training,” said Chekanovych, a Grade 11 honour roll student at Burnaby Central Secondary School. “That goal has to be realistic, but now that I’m at the level and close to that level, I just want to get there.” Waiting another five years before putting herself to the test seems a long time by some standards, but Chekanovych, who is part of the swim academy at Simon Fraser University, says it’s all about taking baby steps. At the recent B.C. senior championships at the UBC Aquatic Centre last month, Chekanovych placed fourth in the 200-metre breaststroke behind Olympians Annamay Pierse and Martha McCabe. Two days later, Chekanovych beat out McCabe for a bronze medal in the 100m breast final, finishing in a time of 1:10.74, onetenth of a second behind Pierse’s winning time, despite giving up as much as nine years of age to her much more experienced competition. Chekanovych’s swimming days began in Surrey at the age of nine, shortly after her immigration to Canada from the Ukraine. In the former Soviet republic, Chekanovych grew up competing as a child ballroom dancer. “I was pretty good,” Chekanovych confessed. “I had a large amount of medals and everything. I even went to Poland for an international competition and won bronze.” But she has turned into an even more accomplished swimmer than she ever was on the dance floor. Her swim coach and step-
Larry Wright/burnaby now
Proud achievement: Mariya Chekanovych displays the Victor Davis award she won in March.
father Dmitriy Kononenko recalls a moment when then world medallist Brittany Reimer came to the Surrey Knights swim club for a ‘Swim with the Stars’ event. “I remember Mariya swam very poorly at the meet, but after she said, ‘I want to be better than Brittany.’ Wow, to hear that story from a nine-year-old wanting to be in the Olympics.” It made an immediate impression on Kononenko, but
Chekanovych can scarcely recall the moment. However, her actions have since spoken louder than her lack of memory ever could. “I wanted to show that I was the best. I wanted to prove that someone who just began swimming can achieve amazing things,” she said. Four years later, Chekanovych reached the senior national time standard for the first time in the
100 and 200m breast, and she was subsequently selected to Canada’s youth team as a 13-year-old. In 2009, she won three gold medals and set two meet records at the North American Challenge Cup. She also represented B.C. in the same year at the Canada Summer Games, where she broke longstanding age-group records in both the 100 and 200m breast, just missing an even longer held Canadian mark in the process. Earlier this year, Chekanovych was named one of only six recipients in Canada of a Victor Davis award, a memorial fund set up for the former Olympic champion breaststroker, who died of his injuries resulting from a hit-andrun incident in 1989. The award is a fitting one for Chekanovych says her coach. “Some people swim amazingly fast in practice, but don’t show up in big meets. But Mariya, she swims faster at every swim. It’s no limit for her,” said Kononenko. “If you are fast in practice, no way (should you be) slow in meet.” Chekanovych showed some of that speed at the Canadian world swim trials in Victoria this weekend, finishing fifth in the final of the women’s 200m breast on Wednesday. Chekanovych believes the Canadian national junior team is an achievable goal, but her swim coach thinks even a spot on the senior team could happen. “It’s possible,” Chekanovych admitted. “But right now, I can be part of that (junior) team, for sure. I definitely need to step it up and compete for the other.” And that is likely just what Chekanovych will do if past history is any indication. And that desire to win will be the impetus that will likely get her there. “I’ve had my doubts, but there is always that drive. But winning, that feeling is the best. It makes you want to continue on. … I don’t want to give up without doing my best.”
Burnaby birders win big in Calgary Tom Berridge sports editor
Douglas College alumni had a lot to beef about at the sixth Yonex Alberta Series badminton tournament in Calgary last weekend. Current Canadian college national champions RuiLin Huang and Melody Liang, along with Douglas College grad Alvin Lau, won two events apiece at the Glencoe club March 25
to 27. Huang, a Burnaby resident, won the women’s singles, easily defeating Canadian No. 5-ranked Charmaine Reid of Ontario 21-9, 21-6. The three-time CCAA female player of the year then paired with Douglas teammate Liang, who also lives in Burnaby, to win the women’s doubles event in a comeback 11-21, 21-11, 21-15 against No. 2 seeds Reid and Milaine Cloutier
of Alberta. Liang, a five-time Canadian college champion, also teamed up with Lau to win the mixed doubles event. Liang and Lau swept all five of their mixed doubles matches, knocking off No. 2 seeds Logan Campbell and Jenny Saunders of Alberta 21-14, 21-16 in the series final. Lau then completed his double with Douglas College freshman Jensen
Ly in an upset in men’s doubles. Lau and Ly, competing in his first series tournament, were seeded third into the tournament and went undefeated in doubles play. The pair upset top seeds Campbell and Bill De Jong 21-14, 21-12 in the seminfinals. Lau and Ly then swept No. 5 seeds Brody Hilland and Justin Mullaly, upset winners over Darren Hong
and Robert De Jong in the semifinals, 21-16, 21-18 in the final. Hong, a third-year Douglas College transfer student calls his hometown Calgary. Ly and Huang also placed third overall in mixed doubles. “Jensen has a very bright future ahead of him. He works extremely hard and is always willing to learn,” said Douglas head coach Al Mawani.
Rebel on the rise in playoffs Tom Berridge
sports editor
Ryan Nugent-Hopkins led the Red Deer Rebels to a hot start in Western Hockey League playoffs. The North Burnaby centre was named the game’s first star in Red Deer’s opening 5-3 victory over the Edmonton Oil Kings in the first game of the WHL Eastern conference playoff last Friday. Nugent-Hopkins scored two goals, including the game-winning tally at 14.25 of the third period, in a four-point performance. He also potted the insurance marker a minute later to put the home team up 1-0 in the best-of-seven series. On the following Saturday, Nugent-Hopkins tallied his third goal of the playoffs, opening the scoring midway through the first period in an eventual 5-1 win over Edmonton. The consensus No. 1 prospect from the WHL, Nugent-Hopkins, was also the go-to guy in a wild four-goal third period that saw Red Deer take a stranglehold in the series, winning 3-1 in Edmonton on Monday. Nugent-Hopkins took control in the latter half of the final period, setting up both the game-tying and game-winning tallies in an eight-minute span. The 17-year-old was particularly brilliant on teammate Daulton Siwak’s game-winner in the final two minutes of play. The second-year Rebel darted into open space in front of the Oil Kings goal and then passed off the puck to Andrej Kudrna all alone at the right crease. Siwak scored on Kudrna’s enusing rebound. The Rebels were in Edmonton for Game 4 Thursday (after NOW deadlines). Nugent-Hopkins is currently tied for second place among all Western league playoff scorers with three goals and seven total points. Shane McColgan of the Kelowna Rockets leads all scorers with 10 points.