McMaster student chosen as flagbearer for Canada Summer Games

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[img_inline align=”right” src=”http://padnws01.mcmaster.ca/images/Evan_Lewis.jpg” caption=”Following the announcement that McMaster student Evan Lewis will be the flagbearer for Team Ontario, Lewis, pictured centre, poses for a photo with, left to right: Gene Sutton, Ontario Chef de Mission, the Honourable Jim Watson, minister of health promotion, and olympian Marni McBean, assistant to the minister.”]Whether it's for the feeling of the wind against his face, the smell of the seawater as it mists against him, or simply the drive to be the best sailor in the world, McMaster student Evan Lewis is committed to what he does best – sailing.

He hopes his commitment – including a seven-day a week, two- to five-hour-a-day training schedule – brings him gold in the Canada Summer Games in Regina, Saskatchewan this August.

Lewis, who will enter his third year of honours kinesiology at McMaster this fall, last week was selected as the flagbearer for Team Ontario. The honour is based on outstanding leadership abilities, academic achievement and service given back to the community by athletes.

Lewis will be the Laser Male 23 and under competitor for Team Ontario. As a top prospect for the 2008 Olympic Team, he is considered one of the top young Laser racers in Canada. He recently placed eighth in an international race in Miami and moved up five places to 121 in the World standing for all Laser racers. He also is a member of the Ontario Sailing Team and a recipient of the Duke of Edinburgh bronze, silver and gold awards for leadership. In 2003, he was awarded the James Worrall Award in recognition of sporting excellence in Ontario, was selected as the City TV Athlete of the Week on July 14, 2003, and received the Ontario Sailing U18 Series prize in 2002. He is actively involved with First Year Orientation at McMaster and this year will act as a representative of the Kinesiology Department helping to welcome new Kinesiology students to McMaster.

While qualifying for the summer games means a lot to Lewis, he says it's only part of a larger goal. “I have been working towards the qualifiers for approximately two years. However, qualifying for the Canada Summer Games was only a process goal. My ultimate goal is to win a gold metal at the Canada Summer Games and qualifying for the Games has given me the opportunity to achieve that.

“The Olympics is the ultimate level of amateur sport competition and it would be a dream come true if I could compete at the Olympics for Canada. To get to that level of competition would require years of training, hard work and dedication not to mention skill and I feel that I would like to take on that challenge.”

He says he's ready, both physically and mentally. “I am maintaining my strength and endurance which I have built up during the winter,” he says. “On average I spend about two hours per day in the gym.”

He also sails between two and five hours a day each day of the week, during which he works on technique, boat handling and tactics. “On weekends I travel to regattas to compete and apply what I have worked on during the week.”

He also trains mentally. “I do mental imagery, relaxation and visualization which helps me manage anxiety, stress, and deal with different situations which may arise during competition and events which may occur off the water.”

Aside from his goals of making the Canadian Sailing Team, competing at the Laser World Championships, and representing Canada at the 2012 Olympics, Lewis hopes to complete a masters degree in human sport performance and potentially a PhD.

The Canada Summer Games will take place Aug 6-20, with sailing scheduled for Aug. 8, 9, 10 and 12.