It turns out that rower Kevin Light's talents with those well-callused hands extend beyond helping to pull the Canadian men's eight to gold in Beijing.
The Sidney, B.C., native is also emerging as a very talented photographer.
His works have fetched some $12,400 so far as part of the the Canadian Athlete's Now Fund's Art of Believing Show, which continues on Tuesday, Sept. 16 in Toronto with a star-studded lineup of Olympic medalists in attendance. They include three members of the men's eight (Adam Kreek, Jake Wetzel and Malcolm Howard), rowing silver medalist David Calder, Whitby hurdler Priscilla Lopes-Schliep and fellow bronze medalists Tracy Cameron (rowing) and Thomas Hall (canoeing).
A minimum donation of $200 is required to get a ticket to the event through the Canadian Athletes Now Fund.
Light, who's getting married next week to fellow rower Zoe Hoskins, was in town for last Monday's fundraiser, getting a break from his studies at the Western Academy of Photography in Victoria.
The guy has a good eye and a nice touch. Among those admiring his work was that noted art connossieur, Scott Moore, head of CBC Sports. (at right)
Light's evocative photograph of the footprints in the snow on the dock at Elk Lake is his biggest seller. He had the idea to have it transferred onto canvas, giving it a classic look.
Malcolm Howard can be seen admiring that picture in the photo on the bottom right.
Just Fine With Two: Speaking of Howard, he's already mounting his campaign to go after gold in the men's single sculls at the 2012 London Olympics.
It's believed he definitely has the talent to do it. Men's head coach Mike Spracklen, who remains with the team as they start preparing for 2012, said as much in Beijing and again here at the art show on Monday night. Howard beat the world champion in the single sculls last year at the Head of the Charles regatta in Boston.
All of Howard's teammates on the eight describe him in superhuman terms. In fact, Adam Kreek's wisecrack on his CBC blog about Howard having a "fully functioning third lung" was taken literally by a Canadian journalist who tried to confirm it with the rowing association during the Olympics.
Howard's biggest obstacle remains funding and he's been knocking on doors in Toronto hoping to find some sponsors. He said he doesn't know what he'd have done without the extra money he got from the Canadian Athletes Now Fund during the period from Nov. '05 to Jan. '07 when he suffered eight cracked ribs during training (because of overload) and needed constant therapy.
Doesn't Add Up: Ken Read's sudden departure from Alpine Canada in July because of a new conflict of interest rule being instituted against employees having children on the team was a strange one -- especially since he does not yet have any kids on the team.
Now, the news comes today he's taking over the post heading up Alpine Alberta, which Thomas Grandi left to return to competitive skiing. Apparently, they have no such conflict rules.
Very strange, indeed.
No Re-Buttle: On the topic of strange exits, a treasured colleague of mine who has covered figure skating extensively was absolutely gobsmacked by Jeffrey Buttle's sudden retirement.
The friend said he could not think of a single athlete in history in any sport who quit at the top of their game with an Olympics coming up in their own country. He thought it was ridiculous.
But it was obvious that's not what drives Buttle. He's not in it for the competition or, it certainly seems, for the glory. The thought of being put through what Brian Orser experienced as a favourite going into the 1988 Calgary Games must have been abhorrent to Buttle -- and it's interesting to note that Orser was one of the athletes he consulted.
Good for him for recognizing he wanted no part of it and putting himself through what would have been torture for him, just because others thought he should. It should also give us more appreciation for the athletes who will put themselves through that pressure cooker.
Cupla Lightweights: Finally got the chance to do something that had been talked about for a long time -- get out in a rowing shell with my buddy Neil Stevens (aka Looseleaf), recently retired from Canadian Press, under the tutelage of veteran rowing coach Al Morrow at the national team rowing centre in London, Ont.
Neil (in the bow) and I were fortunate to cover some regattas together over the years and both have a real appreciation for rowing and rowers.
These sports look so easy -- until you try them. It's nice to get a difference perspective. One thing I didn't realize is that it's much easier to keep a double scull (two oars for each rowers) stable than it is a pair (one oar for each rower). So obviously, we were put in a double. So much for that stability theory.
Morrow has coached the likes of Olympic legends Marnie McBean and Kathleen Heddle, so to say this was a step down doesn't begin to tell the story.
Morrow didn't realize my little camera that Rowing Canada communications director Jackie Skender was using to record the moment also had audio.
"Look at those "#@#@!#$@!#@!#@!" said a flabbergasted Morrow.
Just kidding. Actually, Morrow was very gracious -- hey, he's no dummy, he wants good press.
It was a hoot. It really is a beautiful sport and one to which we really should be exposing more of our youth. (See Al, it worked)
Stevens, who will be honoured by the Hockey Hall of Fame this year, is a natural with roots in what he considers the birthplace of Canadian rowing -- Port Dalhousie. He actually knew what he was doing.
Myself, on the other hand ... If you want to see video evidence, click here.
Pretty cool news out of Montreal today that Maurice Richard Arena is going to be dedicated exclusively to Canada’s short track speed skaters leading up to the 2010 Vancouver Olympics.
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