By Brad Halasz
Swim team strengthens champion squad
As the excitement over the University of Calgary swim team’s Canadian Interuniversity Sport championship year still lingers, the club announced this year’s team would continue to make a splash in the pool.
CIS coach of the year Mike Blondal has picked up some strong talent, most notably Mike Brown, who won a gold medal in the 200-metre breaststroke at the Commonwealth Games in Australia in 2006. He also qualified in the same discipline in Athens at the 2004 summer Olympics.
Brown will join the team after making an appearance at the summer Olympics in Beijing this August. He used his first year of eligibility with the University of Minnesota Golden Gophers before coming to Calgary.
Bekkering back to basketball
Superhuman athlete Henry Bekkering decided to hang up his cleats and throw the high tops back on as the U of C basketball phenom bowed out of Calgary Stampeders training camp four days in.
The Taber native was drafted in the fifth round in the 2007 CFL draft based on his athletic ability, rather than his football background.
According to the Stampeders website, “his size and athleticism showed great potential and were making the adjustment, he admitted his heart wasn’t ready to make the necessary investment.”
Bekkering stated he could not make a full commitment to football and that basketball was his chosen sport. He said he will turn his focus from football to his last year of eligibility on the Dinos basketball team and pursue a spot on the Canadian National team before heading over to Europe to play pro if the opportunity presents itself.
O’Neill steps up at Stamps camp
Dinos football star Tim O’Neill has made it through Calgary Stampeders training camp after signing with the club March 12.
After playing every snap with the Dinos last year as a centre, he became a 2007 CIS first team All-Canadian.
According to the Stamps website, O’Neill is fighting for a spot on the backup roster, but head coach John Hufnagal was impressed with his play during day 10 of training camp.
“We didn’t have a lot of men out there on the offensive line and Tim really stepped up,” said Hufnagal on the Stamps website. “He played every snap and did a nice job for us.”
O’Neill is no stranger to the CFL lifestyle, he was drafted by Edmonton 22nd overall in the 2005 draft and spent the 2006 season on the practice roster before coming back to the Dinos in 2007.
Golf gets the shaft
Ever wonder why you’re so terrible at golf? Could it be that you don’t practice enough? Maybe it’s the dozen beers that go along with your round, or maybe you’re too distracted by the cart girl selling said beers. These are problems that can be easily fixed. For the more serious golfer, it is finding the proper equipment that can be the difference between par and a birdie.
Kinesiology researcher Jay Worobets has set out to learn the subtleties of a golf club and help fit players with the proper shaft.
Using the TaylorMade golf swing analysis system in the Human Performance Lab of the Kinesiology building, Worobets found that some larger men responded better to flexible shafts marketed for women and some women performed better with stiff shafts, usually reserved for men.
Worobets’ research won him the Golf Digest Alastair Cochran Equipment and Technology Award at the World Scientific Congress of Golf in Phoenix, Arizona in March.
Dinos football returns to Shaw
The Dinos football team will have the added pressure of being on television during their first road game of the season against the University of Saskatchewan Huskies as Shaw announced their 2008 television schedule.
Calgary will be featured against the Huskies Aug. 29. They will host University of British Columbia Thunderbirds on Sept. 27 and visit the University of Alberta Golden Bears on Oct. 25.
This season marks the second year of a three-year contract Shaw has with the Canada West Universities Athletic Association.