SARAH A. ZIMMERMAN TERRACE STANDARD The Terrace Standard, Wednesday, July 23, 2003 - BS 638-728 3 SKEENA ANGLER ROB BROWN Taimen 15 ewis lifted Joan’s hands and arms, accelerating the stroke as the rod neared a point at right angles to the river. She felt his muscles flex then swell and harden, felt the power surging from them through her hands and into the long car- bon, graphite pole, which bent to where she thought it might break, stood erect, then bent in the opposite direction under the burden of the heavy line. He pressed her left hand, and with it the handle of the rod, against her side then moved them both up across her mid section to her solar _plexus. “When the rod hits your shoulder, glance back and watch the line straighten.” The rod hit her shoulder, She glanced back to look at the line but her eyes settled on Lewis’ face instead. “Now, come forward, smoothly. Stop the rod at 10 o’ clack — right here,” The line shot to a spot far out and across the river, stopped and dropped the deer hair mouse on the surface with surprising gentleness. “That’s the overhead cast. Don’t worry about anything more fancy for the time being. You have plenty of room behind you. We can go into more complicated casts when you have the feel of the rod. Once more?” Joan hesitated. ‘Yes. Show me once more.” She felt as if she was being indiscrete, felt guilty even though there was no need to. Lewis went through the motions again. She tried to capture his directions but kept hanging ‘up on the sound of his voice.” “Now you try,” he said unwrapping his arms and stepping aside to provide her room. gathered together what little she'd retained of his instruction. She was agile — gifted physically according to her admiring parents, uncle Amos, and a few of her teachers and coaches, She'd always been good at sports. She would do this and do it well. She cast. The line cavered a third of the distance it had under Lewis’ gui- dance then fell on the water in a heap. She red- dened. “You've got enough to take it from here,” he said, kindly and without a hint of paternalism, .then he smiled and made his way downstream to the others. Joan felt his leaving was purpose- ful and considerate: he was giving her room to ‘practice free of embarrassment. She started in jon the overhead cast again, using less line this ; time. As soon as mind and muscle had mastered “that distance, she lengthened the line by a few feet and worked methodically until the new dis- _ tance was no longer a challenge. In a short time she was sending the mouse out 60 feet into the river. The mouse riffled toward shore. She followed it. with the tip of her rod the way Billy had showed her when they'd fished steelhead in Alaska, The deer hair rodent rose then skated over a bulge created by a subsurface boulder. She lifted the rod, less mechanically than the last time, then sent the mouse out on the same path. She looked downstream where Lewis, Billy and York, almost finished covering the run, were casting long lines over the tailout. She looked back. The water was flat. Where was that boulder? The mouse vanished in a swirl so smooth she almost missed it. She lifted the pole and felt the weight of a large fish. It splashed and ran off line. Joan looked downriver. York was still flailing away into the tailout. Billy and Lewis were on their way back. Their pace suggested that they’d noticed she was fastened to a fish. They broke into a trot. In mo- ments they were beside her. “Way to be, Joanie!” said Billy. “It's a taimen,” commented Lewis as the fish tolled at the surface. “It's about 35 inches.” ‘Joan was consumed with an urge to land this fish, if for no other reason than.to make up for ‘her bungled cast earlier. She pumped the rod, recovered line each time it dipped and gave line when the fish pulled hard. “There’s a shadow — a dark shape behind your . fish,” said Billy. ; Moments later the fish tapped an energy te- serve and torpedoed downriver with more power than it had exhibited when first hooked. The reel handle hit the right hand knuckle of Joan’s - index finger. She winced but said nothing. The fish shot upstream, its back out of water, made a sweeping arc toward the far shore, then "came straight at the anglers, Joan frantically re- éeled in the slack, “I’ve never seen a tatmen fight like this,” said ' Lewis. “What's going on?” To be continued... She felt vulnerable and inept. She felt like a. spinning top giving up to the pull of gravity. She Athletes plunge into outdoor series By SARAH A. ZIMMERMAN TWELVE HUNDRED metres is a long way to swim at the best of times, but doing it in a lake with dozens of other people while bat- tling the clock ups the ante sig- nificantly. That’s exactly what more than 30 brave competitors did as they dove, literally, into first event of the 2003 Terrace Standard Ad- venture Challenge outdoor sports series. The Ruins Board Shop open water swim race July 13 saw swimmers take to a 600 metre tri- angular course on Lakelse Lake — adults swam around the course twice (the equivalent of doing 48 laps at the Terrace Aquatic Centre), while juniors did one lap and youth were challenged to a 250 metre swim, “Being so close to a group of people, there’s not the division you have in the pool,” says Eberle Balfour of the challenges of swimming in the lake. She competed alongside 10 other iadies in the women’s open. That race was run at the same time as the men's open which saw 12 men compete. With 22 bodies in the water at the same time, the water gets .. rough and the racing can be tight. “Sometimes you have hands hitting your head,” says Balfour. But sixteen-year-old swimming sensation Evan Stevens from Kiti- mat didn’t let the mass start hold him back. He opted to compete with the adults and soon left them in his wake completing the 1,200 metre course in just 17:32, A member of the Kitimat Mar- lins swim club.he gave some of Terrace’s experienced triathletes a real challenge. Next out of the water was Ter- racé’§ Brandin’ Schultz: whov- oe wasn't far behind Stevens with a time of 18:20. Tied for third place were Willie Muller, Dave Cater and Campbell Stewart. “IT felt that the individuals to celebrate were probably those who came in last because they were probably the ones who sum- moned up the courage to take up a challenge that was outside their experience,” said Stewart, who has competed in triathlons in the past. Return to China By SARAH A. ZIMMERMAN WHEN STEPHEN Downie talks about China you can tell his heart is hundreds of miles away. | This week Downie returns to China, where he's lived SWIMMERS head for deep water “al the start of the junior division 600 metre race July 13. More than 30 people took part in the open water swim. SARAH A. ZIMMERMAN PHOTO “For a lot of us it was a swim, we swim all the time, but some of these people took on a real chal- lenge and they had fun doing it and that’s what these events are about.” Racers at the event varied in ability from expert swimmers to first-timers, Not a fan of swimming in cold water, Ray Praught wasn’t exactly looking forward to the race but competed to accumulate points towards his overall standing in the Adventure Challenge. “Out of every event I was the most nervous of this,” says the 30- year-old who feels far mare com- fortable on the seat of a bike than in the water. His goal was simply to finish the race. \ “1! couldn't swim anymore — even for another five minutes. I was done.” . “T couldn’t swim anymore even for another five minutes, I was done,” Praught said after the race, The women’s division saw for- mer Terrace Blueback swim club member Julie Vanderlee, 22, come in first place posting a time of just 20,31, She was followed by another former Blueback Tamara Check- ley in 21:12, And third piace went EVAN STEVENS, 16, swam with the adults and left them in his wake. He sped through the 1,200 metre race in 17:32 lapping at least five people along the way. SARAH A. ZIMMERMAN PHOTO to Mary Stewart who finished the course in 21:59, The junior (ages 13-16) cate- gory saw 12-year-old Marlee Cater take on the 600 metre course as a warm up for her offi- cial race in the youth (ages 12 nd under) division. “She lett tle competition way behind finishing the loop in 10:27. Cater, a Blueback swimmer, says long distances are her forte, “The water's colder and it seems to go faster because you don’t have to do any flip turns off the wall,” she said, adding stay- ing on course is difficult because there are no lines to follow under the water. Official results for the junior event saw 13-year-old Blueback Amy Peltier nab first place with a time of 12:14. She was followed up by Jesse Sheasby, 15, and last year's Adventure Challenge junior champion Travis Yagelniski, 16. Both boys are registered in all - five of series’ events. The youth division saw Marlee Cater show she still had loads of. energy bolting cut in front ‘of ‘the pack easily nabbing first place with a time of 4:14, Behind her were sisters Kali, 11, and Mallory Smylie, 9, who entered the event while visiting fromm Vernon, B.C. The adventure challenge series continues this Sunday, July 27 as the King of the Mountain footrace hits the Terrace Mountain trail. Runners battle the steep 8.5 ki- lometre root-bound course starting at 10 a.m. at the Terrace arena. Champs challenge ‘swimmers FIVE LOCAL swimmers got a taste of high level competition July 10-13 and came back holding their ih for nearly two years, after visiting family and friends in Terrace for more than a month. He’s looking forward to returning to the country which has become his home away from home. “China’s been really, really good to me, I can’t say I'll be there for the rest of my life but as Jong as it keeps me excited about life and learning something new every day I'll stay,” says Downie, who has travelled extens- ively through that country and is learning to speak Chi- nese fluently. This fall he'll be taking on a year-long contract to teach English and sports to Chinese students at the Har- bin Institute of Sport nestled in the outdoor winter sport capital of China. His pupils, mostly between 18 and 24 are training to become coaches, teachers or personal irainers, It’s the perfect opportunity for him to put his ba- chelor of aris degree in recreation and leisure to work. A big fan of hockey, he also plans to open a weekend ice hockey school teaching Canada’s favourite game to Chinese children. Harbin boasts three ice arenas and a climate similar to that of Edmonton, Alberta - which can see temperatures drop to -25C for weeks on end. A talented athlete in his own right, Downie will with- out a doubt be a role model for his students when it comes to showing his passion for athletics and sports- manship, While Downie was in Terrace he competed in two triathlons and competed in the 1,200 metres men's open water swim race July 13 — encouraging his compe- titors all along the course. And the 2010 Terrace Communily Benefits Team also recently asked Downie to act as a sort of ambassador for Terrace upon his return to China. “It’s an opportunity for me to get out there and pro- mote Terrace and the northwest as a place to train,” Downle says. John Taylor, chair of the community benefits group, says having Downie in China has the potential to open the door to Chinese athletes coming to Terrace or Kiti- mat io train at area facilities such as the Onion Lake cross country ski trails. He says because the coastal climate here is similar to that of Whistler it could be a selling point to get future Olympians here in the years leading up to the games. Downie says some Chinese national teams already train in Canada, The women’s hockey team, for exam- STEPHEN DOWNIE, 26, is returning to China where he'll teach sports and English. ple, has trained and played exhibition games in Edmon- ton, he says. The idea has long been touted by local pro-Olympic - supporters including Skeena MLA Roger Harris as one of the potential positive spinoffs for the north now that the Olympics are coming to Vancouver. But luring foreign teams to the great northwest could be a feat in itself. Downie knows he’s just. one man at one sports insti- tute in one city in China, but that doesn't matter to him, The important thing is getting Terrace's name out there. “We're a small market town. For me it's promotion - get your name out there and you never know what could - happen,” Downie says. , . pionships pitted five Blue- the 100 metre butterfly. heads high. The B.C. open AAA age group long course cham- back swim club members against the province’s fast- est swimmers along with clubs from Alberta and Ontario. “The level of competi- tion was excellent,” said Blueback head coach Mike Carlyle. “It’s exactly what we would like at provincials — we'd like them to elevate. ~ themselves at the end of a year to a level they haven't been to in the past.” Allison Knoedier swam a personal best time in the . 200 breaststroke -— 1:22.99 res - and came out with a se- ad venth place finish. The five Terrace com- petilors including Caitlin Scales, Hayley Schmie- del, Edmund Swan, and Evan Watson, posted over 80 per cent best times. » “They're learning how. to push themselves and performing a the provincial level,” Carlyle said. Knecedler also made fi- nals and placed eighth in the 100 metre breaststroke. Edmund Swan, 17, putina | good performance placing fourth in the 200 metre butterfly and eleventh in Cont'd Page B10