The B.C. Seniors Games are all about sportsmanship and camaraderie - and a big helping of good, old-fashioned competition to keep those in their golden years on top of their game.
A pair of Squamish athletes brought their best to the recent B.C. Senior Games in Penticton, and brought home a nice collection of medals in the process.
Theodora Carroll and Vello Erics, both swimming for Squamish, won medals in several different disciplines. Carroll, competing in her third Seniors Games, won a gold medal, three silver medals and placed fourth in another very self-satisfying race.
"I was very pleased," said Carroll, who competed in the women's 65-69 category. "Apart from the medals, I was happy with all my results. I brought my times down in everything."
She won silver in the 25- and 50-metre backstroke and swam the freestyle portion in the women's 4x25-metre medley relay for her third silver. Carroll captured gold in the 4x25-metre medley relay, swimming breaststroke in the third leg of the team event.
Although she won four medals in total, Carroll was extremely happy with her performance in the 4x25-metre individual medley, perhaps the most challenging race in competitive swimming. Swimmers cover the butterfly, backstroke, breaststroke and freestyle in four consecutive 25-metre lengths.
She has won a total of 14 medals during the past three years of competition at the BC Seniors Games, and wants to encourage more seniors (aged 55-plus) to become involved in competition.
"We've got some great swimmers in Squamish but we need to get them out to compete," she said. Vello Erics won a silver and a bronze medal in the men's 4x50 and 4x25-metre relay events respectively.
Carroll has experienced a wealth of positive energy and sportsmanship that come from the BC Seniors Games, and wants to see Squamish act as the host city in the near future. "I've tried to encourage council to seek to host the games in the future," she said. "There are a lot of people who would love to see the games come to the corridor, so hopefully the community will become enthusiastic about bringing the games to Squamish."
