LONDON, Ont. – The 2012 Summer Olympics are upon us and five athletes and a number of officials representing Canada also have a connection to Western University, including two former Mustang student-athletes, and two current assistant coaches.
The most prominent of these athletes is Lesley Thompson-Willie, a former Mustang rower and coxswain on this year’s Olympic team. Thompson-Willie is no stranger to the Olympic Games, 2012 marks her eighth appearance on the biggest stage in sports, where she has won four medals: one bronze, two silvers, and gold in 1992 at Barcelona. Thompson-Willie graduated from Western in 1982 with a Bachelor of Arts, and in 1983 with a Bachelor of Education.
Another former Mustang student-athlete, Alexandra Bruce will be representing Canada in Doubles Badminton alongside partner Michelle Li. Bruce competed for Western in 2008-09, winning Ontario University Athletics Rookie of the Year honours, and in 2009-10 before postponing her studies in civil engineering to focus on training for international completion. This will be Bruce’s first Olympic experience; however she and Li have already excelled on the international level, winning gold at the 2011 Pan American Games.
Current Mustangs assistant swimming coach Richard Hortness is heading to his second straight Olympics, competing this time as a member of the 4x100m relay team. A graduate of the University of Nevada – Las Vegas, Hortness relocated to London after his university career to train under Mustangs head coach Paul Midgley, himself a former Olympian.
Joining Hortness in the pool is Joe Bartoch, a Western student and Mustangs assistant coach who also trains under Coach Midgley. A London native, Bartoch is competing in his second straight Olympics and set a Canadian record of 52.28 seconds in the 100m butterfly in the 2008 Games. Last week Bartoch was named co-captain of the swim team for these Olympics.
Finally Damian Warner is heading to his first Olympics to compete in the decathalon. Warner qualified for the Games by winning the decathalon at the 2012 Canadian Olympic Trials in Calgary. Mustangs Track and Field head coach Vickie Croley is one of Warner’s coaches, and will be working with him at his pre-Olympic training camp in Germany.
In addition to those five athletes, Rowing Canada sees a significant amount of representation from Western alumni including Peter Cookson (BESc ’87), high performance director; Philip Monckton (BA ’75; MA ’80) vice-president high performance; Al Morrow (BA ’72), lead coach women; Glen Burston (BESc ’93; MEng ’02), representative for Hudson Boatworks; Mike F. Murphy (BA ’70, MEd ’77, PhD ’95), president of Rowing Canada Aviron;
The 2012 Olympic Games begin this week with competition beginning on Wednesday and the opening ceremonies taking place on Friday.
With files from Western News
