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Early Bird Prize - Houston, B.C.

One of our March Early Bird Prize winners is the community of Houston, BC, winning a visit to their community by Olympian and ActNow BC Athlete Ambassador, Ryan Cochrane. - Visit Houston's GamesTown2010 Page

One Houston resident had this to say about Ryan’s visit:

“Ryan is a great ambassador and a wonderful asset to the Act Now BC program. It was a very positive experience for our whole community. I hope that the next community, that is lucky enough to have their name picked for a visit from an Olympic or Paralympics athlete, will enjoy it as much as we did.”
Bookmark this page - After the event, we'll post photos.


Ryan’s Houston Recap
  
My day started off horrendously early at 4 a.m., but it was a quick trip through Vancouver and onto Smithers, BC. I was picked up in a 1-ton pick up by local MLA Dennis MacKay who drove me the hour drive to Houston, population 3200. It was great talking with Dennis about the local Communities during my tour of Smithers and Houston.

We began the bustling day in Houston at the local Wild Games Society Youth Banquet. I gave a quick talk to the kids regarding excellence in sport as well as everyday life, and signed a few autographs. It was a brisk stop but I was more than happy to start the day out being able to talk with a younger crowd.

Straight from the Youth banquet, we headed over to the senior activity centre where I was surprised to find out I was the keynote speaker. Although a bit unexpected, I was more than happy to discuss the ActNow BC program and encourage everyone to be active and enjoy healthy lifestyles. It was great to be able to tell my story as an athlete and I really hope I encouraged everyone to become dynamic within the community when it comes to 2010.

From there, I headed to the local library where I read a 2010 mascot book and answered questions about my sport and about the Olympic experience. It was the first time I've read to kids and I was a bit terrified to start off. The kids were great though and they were interested the entire time; they were a great audience. Before we headed to the pool, I met with a young lady named Emily who had requested to meet with me while I was in town. Despite the fact our meeting was quick, I really got the feeling that she epitomized Houston as a community. She was extremely energetic and active and I hope everyone can learn from her leading up to the 2010 Games; being active does not have to come in the form of Olympic sports - it’s more of a lifestyle choice that anyone has the ability to make.

After the library, it was a quick trip over to Houston's aquatic center, home to BC's newest swim club, the Houston Aquatic club. They were also joined by swimmers from Smithers, and the new facility provided an exceptional setting for fun relays and a quick practice.

The last thing on the day’s agenda was a presentation at the LiveSites Screen at Claude Parish Memorial Arena. While speaking about my experiences as an age group athlete, as well as my Olympic experience, I showed a quick slideshow of pictures from Beijing. At the end, I also showed an extremely inspirational 2010 video which I hope motivated the crowd to become part of the Games. After that, we had a quick skate (It was the first time I had skated in about four years, so it was an adventure to say the least) and then we were done for the evening.

Houston is an extremely energetic northern community and it exemplifies what I envision as the perfect GamesTown 2010. Everyone in the city seemed to be involved in one way or another with sport and active living and I am hugely thankful to have been able to meet these wonderful people.

Biography

Photo: Swimming Natation Canada

Ryan Cochrane - Swimming - Victoria


Ryan is an Olympian who won Canada’s only Olympic medal in the pool in Beijing, Bronze in the 1500m, and is the only Canadian to swim 1500m in under 15 minutes.

Outside of his sport, Ryan visits schools to talk to kids about Olympic values and the importance of being active.

Ryan’s Tip: Sport should be constantly enjoyable and never become a burden. Try every sport you can, you never know what you will excel at until you've tried everything!

www.swimming.ca/2008OlympicGamesTeam#
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