Success of local athletes honoured with sports awards
Posted Jan 29, 2010 By Sheena Bolton
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EMC Sports Rideau Canoe Club paddler Ian Mortimer followed in his brother's footsteps last Wednesday when he was awarded male athlete of the year during the Ottawa Sports Awards.
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Paddler Ian Mortimer (above) took home the trophy for male athlete of the year at last week's annual Ottawa Sports Awards. Speedskater Kristina Groves won female athlete of the year.
"I was surprised and I'm pretty excited to win, especially because my brother (Angus) was a co-winner last year," said Mr. Mortimer. "Going into the awards I didn't expect to receive it."
The 26-year-old Ottawa south paddler received the award not only for his great overall year, but also because of his return to an international sporting level.
"I've been out for two years due to a serious injury where I had to have surgery and rehabilitation," he said. "I was out in 2006-07 and raced in 2008 and came close to the Olympics, but was still recovering and in 2009 I was back racing at the worlds."
Mr. Mortimer, who got involved with paddling when he was 10 years old, has spent the last six years as a member of Canada's canoe team.
"The canoe club was close to my house and my sister started there, she's still involved as a coach, and I followed her and was in love from the start," he explained.
At the world senior canoe/kayak championships, his four-man canoe narrowly missed getting a bronze medal in the 200-metre final, taking fourth place, and had a fifth place finish for the 1,000-metre final.
At the 2009 Canadian championships, Mr. Mortimer was captain of the women's junior and juvenile war canoe crews, taking home gold medals with both.
The Carleton University student has set many goals for himself, including receiving the male athlete of the year again.
"It means a lot to win this trophy since for at least the last six years I've been attending these awards and a goal of mine has always been to one day earn that trophy. There are a lot of great names on that trophy and it's great to be recognized by that group and by the city," said Mr. Mortimer.
He added he is also aiming to continue training with his C4 crew, consisting of Gabriel Beauchesne-Sévigny, Mark Oldershaw and Andrew Russell.
"We've raced together since we were juniors and our big goal was when I came back (we would) race together again," said Mr. Mortimer.
A familiar name in the local, national and international sporting scene, speedskater Kristina Groves was honoured as female athlete of the year during the Ottawa Sports Awards.
A recipient of the award five times in the past six years, and six times in total, Ms. Groves, a former Brookfield High School student, was unable to attend the ceremony due to her preparations for the 2010 Winter Olympics. Her parents accepted the award on her behalf.
Ms. Groves has been speed skating for more than 20 years, after becoming intrigued with the sport when she watched the 1988 Olympics on television.
Over the years Ms. Groves has won 12 World Cup medals (four gold, three silver and five bronze), and recently took home the World Cup title for the second straight year in the 1,500-metre race.
She competed in the Olympics for the first time at Salt Lake City in 2002 and returned in 2006 to compete at the Games in Turin, where she took home two silver medals. Her success in the years since the Turin Olympics has made her a favourite to potentially win multiple medals for Canada in speed skating in Vancouver
"We are proud of her and happy for her," said her father, John Groves. "She's been skating competitively for over 20 years now and it's nice after so much focus and hard work that she's getting some nice achievements and recognition."
The Ottawa Sports Awards honoured athletes in 57 sports for their achievements in 2009 and presented 12 trophies, including lifetime achievement honours.
