Ontario Community Newspapers

Canadian Champion (Milton, ON), 2 Aug 2005, p. 19

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The Canadian Champion, Tuesday, August 2, 2005-Alg Barnes golden at World Masters Championships ÉDespite subpar preparation, local triathiete dominates men's 55-59 division in Edmonton By STEVE LeBLANC The Champion H arry Barnes is golden once again. Distancing himself from a rather mediocre performance at the duathlon nationals earlier this sum- mer in Ottawa, the 58-year-old made a triumphant return to triathlon competition in Edmonton July 23 -decisively winning his age group at the World Maaters Championships. Barnes readily admits that this event isn't exactly on par with the World Triathlon Championships. But hey, any world titie - espe- cially one's first - s memorable. '"Oh yeah, you've got to look at it that way," said the highly-driven racer. "In Ottawa 1 kind of figured I'm flot really a duathiete so 1 held back a little, but Saturday 1 pushed it hard." While there wasn't much doubt that he'd be in championship con- tention, winning the men's 55-59 year-old age class by nearly five minutes was somewhat unexpect- ed. That's because Bamnes hadn't really gone into the international sbowcase witb a solid base of train- ing, since recent beat waves bad left bim physically spent after workouts -many of wbicb had to be scaled back. "I'd finish up a bike or mun some days and just bave nothing left," hie recalled. 1I actually thougbt 1 was going there (world masters) in the worst shape of my life." Saturday's 2:19.27 effort strong- ly suggests otherwise. Some confusion in the second transition area had Barres believ- îîîg there were a few 55-59 year- old competitors stili ahead of him heading into the 10-kmn mn finale. "That really drove me to the end, but as it tumed out some younger racers had left their bikes in our age group's area," he explained. "Me local racer finished more than four-and-a-ha]f minutes ahead of runner-up Richard Holloway of Washington, thanka in large part to bis bcst ever swim - a cool 24 minutes flat over 1.5 km. Noted Barres, 1i just got into a zone." H-e'd maintain an impressive pace the rest of the way, thriving throughouî a moming that began a little wet and soggy from, a thun- derstorm, the night before but wound up relatively sunny and warn. "It eventually got warmer as the race wore on, which definitely gave me an advantage over some guys who don't like the beat." Barnes' time would have been good enough to put him top-lO in any of the younger men's divi- sions, while overaîl hie placed 33rd among more than 60() World Masters Championship triathlctes. HelIl look to, add to bis world medal haul in Hawaii October 8 during the World Triathlon Championships. at which hie secured back-to-back bronzes in 2002 and 2003. Before that hie may return to Kelowna, BC later this month for the triathlon nationals, which were rained out last sumluner. "TMat's (nalionals) still undecid- ed right now because the worlds aren 't that far away," said Barnies. "J'vc been recovering pretty good 50 far this year, but 1 don't want to get greedy and push it." 'Riders o-fine coach pleased with O'Meara's progress By STEVE LeBLANC The Champion Matt O'Meara may flot be a fuIl-fledged CFL regular juat yeî, but he's certainly making inroads toward that end. According to offensive line coach Carl Brennan, the 22-year-old Saskatchewan Roughriders hopeful is mak- ing significant improvement aa a member of the injury reserve liat. "Like for any young guy making the jump froro uni- versity to the pros, it's going to be a struggle. but Matt's caught on quickly and progressed well so far," Brennan said Wednesday aftemoon. 'Mat headway translated into him dressing for the Roughriders' July 17 home game with H-amilton which resulted in a 32-13 victory for the hosîs. While restricîed to back-up duty, and only dressing because of some injuries, the six-foot-five-inch, 300-pound offen- sive lineman said it waa an important fn-st step. "It's a whole different level here and it's probably good to just dress for a game or two before actually getting out there," said the McMaster University graduate, wbo was part of three Yates Cup championship drives belore being drafted third overaîl by the Roughriders this past spring. "On the other hand. 1 would have felt confident going in if they'd needed me." Brennan offered similar comments, stating that whilc Saskatchewan's seasoned offensive line ssill make it tough for a young guy like O'Meara to get much playing time right now he wouldn't hesitate to use him if needcd. "I'd have full confidence putting Mant in as a first-year player. That's got a lot to do with bis work ethic, which is amazing. He puts a lot of extra time in watching film and what flot." At The Champion's holiday press time Friday afier- noon, there was a distinct possibility that O'Meara would dress for that night's home againat Ottawa. Meanwbile, fellow Miltonian Mike O'Shea and bis Toronto Argonauts won a key test over Montreal Thursday evening, upstaging the Alouettes 36-24. The victory pushed the Boatmen to 3-2 and allowed tbem to move into sole possession of first in the East Division. Toronto's stamina was no doubt tested last night. when they were back in action for the second time in just four days with a matinee showdown versus Winnipeg. The first COMPLETE Weight CONTROL Program CANADIAN LAUNCH e The Yo-Yo Diet Syndrome - Restoring metabolism * What to eat * Safe and effective supplements e i Date: August 3rd - Time: 7:00 pm K e c Place: Leisure Centre. 1100 Main St.m o SEà VE-MM ý y li i FREE SEMINAR 1

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