North Toronto athletes excel at Canada Seniors Games
[attach]2307[/attach]North Toronto athletes came away with several medals at the Canada Senior Games.
Ontario had over 450 competitors who took part in 19 sanctioned events during the recent competition in Brockville, Ont.
Athletes from North Toronto competed in tennis, swimming, badminton, lawn bowling, golf and table tennis.
North York Senior Games’ District 15 all brought home medals except for tennis.
“The experience to compete at this level is exciting and was new for some,” says Ilse Verwey, spokesperson for North York Senior Games District 15.
There were some surprises, she said.
“Our lawn-bowling experts found out that they were far better than the other entries in that sport. The tennis couple encountered too many stronger teams. The Badminton pair was outstanding. Swimming did better than any other groups. Ontario team had the highest point score and was ranked first overall.”
The medal haul for the North Toronto contingent was quite impressive. They brought home six gold, five silver and two bronze.
While the goal of the group is to come back with some positive results, for Verwey, the point of the seniors games is to get out and socialize.
“Going into these Games is very stimulating and we all set goals to bring back positive results to our North York District 15 but the main intent of the Senior Games is to socialize and have fun with people from all nationalities without bias,” she says. “As well, when we earn the privilege to compete we have an opportunity to see other cities and their surroundings.”
Verwey hopes more seniors over the age of 55 will come out and join.
“The benefit for seniors to compete is (it’s) very positive for self-esteem and stimulates well-being,” she says. “It also makes us role models for our aging population. When I came back to our new home at the Dunfield Retirement Residence, I was photographed and an enlarged print was put in all the elevators for several days.”
North York Senior Games District 15 results:
Badminton: Ladies Doubles, 65+ Merrie Lee and A Simon gold; Mixed Doubles, 65+ Merrie Lee and Mr. Burton gold.
Golf: Low Gross Doubles 75+ Audrey Tapai silver
Lawn Bowling: Doubles Emma Varga and Sharon Jeffrey gold
Swimming: Ladies,70-74-Freestyle-50m. Ali Toh gold; Ladies,70-74 Backstroke-50m,-Ali Toh bronze; Ladies 80-84 Freestyle-50m-Ilse Verwey silver; Ladies 80-84 Backstroke-50M,-Ilse Verwey silver; Ladies 80-84-Backstroke-100M-Ilse Verwey gold; Ladies 80-84-Medley- 100m-Ilse Verwey gold; Men- 75-80-Backstroke-50m-Al Rubinoff silver; Men-75-80- Freestyle- 50m- Al Rubinoff bronze.
Table Tennis: 85+ Singles Victor Tapai silver.
