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Sports Oakville Beaver SPORTS EDITOR:JONKUIPERIJ Phone 905-845-3824 (ext. 432) Fax 905-337-5571 email sports@oakvillebeaver.com · WEDNESDAY, SEPTEMBER 19, 2012 25 Tribute to Olympians special for all involved By Herb Garbutt OAKVILLEBEAVERSTAFF PHOTOS BY ERIC RIEHL / OAKVILLE BEAVER / @HALTON_PHOTOG WARM RECEPTION: The Town of Oakville recognized its Olympic athletes with a parade and reception Saturday. Clockwise from top, Diana Matheson signs an autograph for young fan Andrew Kelder; Mark Oldershaw addresses fans; people wait for their turn to meet the Olympians; and Kyle Jones gives a thumbs up during the parade. s Adam van Koeverden signed autographs in Oakville's Centennial Square, the excited but nervous 11-year-old waited her turn in line to meet the Olympic medallist. A competitive swimmer, she didn't know a lot about kayaking, but was still impressed with van Koeverden's dedication and ability to reach the pinnacle of his sport. She looked on in amazement at the gold and bronze medals hanging around his neck. "Just knowing there was Olympian from my town who had done such an extraordinary thing, I wanted to meet this guy," she said. Van Koeverden signed hundreds of autographs that day in 2004 after returning from Athens, where he had carried the Canadian flag in the closing ceremonies. What he didn't know was that one of those fans would be a future Canadian Olympic teammate. A couple of years after meeting van Koeverden, Tera Van Beilen taped the Olympic rings to the ceiling above her bed -- making them the last thing she would see before she went to sleep and the first thing she saw when she woke up. She would go on to win a gold medal in the 100-metre breaststroke at the first Youth Olympics in 2010. Saturday, Van Beilen and van Koeverden were among the six Oakville Olympic athletes honoured by the Town of Oakville in Centennial Square. Van Koeverden, who won his fourth Olympic medal, bronze medalists Mark Oldershaw (canoe) and Diana Matheson (soccer) and triathlete Kyle Jones waved to the hundreds of fans who lined Lakeshore Road for a parade prior to a ceremony in Centennial Square. Van Beilen, who has returned to school at the University of British Columbia, and silver medal-winning rower Doug Csima, who is on his honeymoon, were also honoured, represented on stage by their A parents. "When you're younger, meeting someone who went to the Olympics is like meeting a celebrity," said Van Beilen, looking back on that day eight years ago. "That was very cool. I get star-struck pretty easy. Even when I was in the athletes' village, I would see someone who had won medals and my mouth would just drop. So even being an Olympian, it happens to me, too." Saturday, there was no shortage of people in awe of the athletes and their diverse talents. "I got to hold a bronze medal," 15-year-old Oakville Trafalgar High School student Katie Hope said in amazement. "I watched all the Olympics. I watched all the sports so it was amazing to meet all the athletes." Matheson had visited Jaime Knights' hometown of Kingston twice since the Olympics but Knights had missed her both times. So when Knights found out Oakville was honouring its Olympians the same day her brother was playing in a baseball tournament in town, she decided to make the trip as well. "She's been a big inspiration," said Knights, who had a soccer ball signed by the hero of Canada's bronze-medal game. "It was awesome to have the chance to meet her." Kirt Berry worked for CTV as an editorial researcher during the Olympics. He waited in line for close to an hour with Kathryn and Matthew Kozanczyn to meet the athletes. "Seeing them on TV all the time during the Olympics, I just wanted to meet them. I wanted (Matthew) to meet them as well," said Berry, who ordered an Olympic poster for them to sign. Susan Fraser brought a paddle that Oldershaw autographed for her earlier this month in in Burlington so she could add van Koeverden's signature to it. Heather Chan and Melissa Kodama, Grade 10 students at St. Mildred's-Lightbourn School, See Athletes, page 27