One of these athletes could be the next Olympic champion

The University of British Columbia Okanagan (UBCO) gymnasium was packed with potential Saturday.

Over 75 competitors gathered for the RBC Training Ground, where athletes vying to one day represent the nation at the Olympics showcased their skills.

Among those eager to wear the red and white was Dawson Anderson. The 23-year-old track and field athlete has participated in Training Ground events since 2018.

The opportunity, he said, is about bettering both his athletic and personal skills.

“I want my kids to look back at me and say, ‘wow our dad did something great’” he said. “I want future generations to know what the human body is capable of. I want to come out here and show people it’s not that hard, it’s a lot of fun when you get doing it.”

Mallory Sader, 20, and Brooke Hall-Eckes, 20, both play on the UBCO Heat Softball team, and were taking part in the testing for the first time.

“I’ve heard about this online and I thought it was a great opportunity if I wanted to do anything further with my athletic career,” Sader said. “It was cool to meet a bunch of different athletes and see what sports they do and train for. It’s great to meet everyone and compete against everyone.”

Hall-Eckes almost didn’t show up, but her teammate convinced her to give it a go.

“I didn’t expect to get all the good results as I didn’t train for this, I’ve been mostly strength training for softball,” she explained. “But I wanted to push myself to not give up and just go until I dropped, and I almost did that during the beep test.”

Among the audience was someone who knows the pressure of the Olympics firsthand - Kelowna native and Olympic gold medalist Kelsey Serwa. She was excited at the possibility that this could be the start of an Olympic journey for someone in the gym that day.

“This program has been very successful in the past at not only identifying future Olympians, but also identifying and producing future medalists,” she said. “My advice to these athletes was to not be so focused on their numbers, but to be process driven, do your best and to enjoy the day and have fun.”

Participants competed in four tests that focused on speed, strength, power, and endurance.

The results are sent to the National Sport Organization (NSO), where the top scores from across the country will move on to a national final later this year.

Manager of the RBC Training Program for B.C., Andrew Latham, said the day is about giving prospective Olympians a chance to take a single moment and turn it into something bigger down the road.

“It gives them that opportunity that they might need to give them a push and get them to the next level,” he said. “Our experience is the athletes have a great time, meet people from different sports. Whenever you can meet someone from a different sport, there is always some value in that.”

Since 2016, the RBC Training Ground has helped over 16,000 athletes, and 1,500 have been identified by the NSO.