Fun to watch

This week I watched several games of the beach volleyball tournament during the Canada Games hosted in Niagara. Two afternoons - in the hot sun - with the semi-finals men & women and the bronze and gold medal games were time well spent.

Nice to see Niagara College broadcasting students gaining practical experience during these sports events. And great to see fantastically skilled and disciplined under 18 soccer players from Quebec and Ontario in the gold medal game in the men's soccer.

Canada Games: Niagara 2022

The annual Canada Games - mostly for promising youth athletes - is hosted this year in the Niagara Region. The triathlon, beach volleyball and soccer are on my list to go watch some events during the coming two weeks. Mary is volunteering for the beach volleyball event. She got some nice gear and this jacket just fits me perfect.....

Toronto Island

The two week visit of Hilary (and one week together with Shayd) has already come and gone. 
 Nice weather, nice meals, and Hilary & Mary enjoyed a large Sangria in Chrystal Beach...

We brought Hilary and Poncho to the Toronto airport on a very early morning flight, and made it a day with our e-bikes along the Ontario Lake waterfront. We took the ferry to Toronto Island for a look around. The ferry boats are from the fifties and so are the lifejackets, but it gives the short boat ride of 15 minutes character (and the lake there is not very deep....)

A nice spot for a morning coffee on the island, and a bike ride along the boardwalk with views over the lake on a beautiful summer day.

Hilary visiting again

Hilary is in Fonthill again and this time brought one year old Poncho with her (Shayd follows a week later). Last Sunday Mark stopped by as well after playing golf in Niagara Falls. Mary and Hilary made a wonderful dinner for the four of us...

And after the meal, the the youngsters needed to go for a nap.....

Open water swim

The Welland International Flat Water sports center was built about ten years ago as a legacy project when Ontario hosted the Pan Am Games. Renovations are being made for the hosting of the kayak and canoe races of the upcoming Canada Games (August 6-21). It hosts also several triathlons each year as well as dragon boat races and open water swim races. I just registered for a first for me: 1 km swim on September 11. I swim a few times each week in the YMCA pool 1 km, but in open water it is always a bit rougher with wind, waves and lack of guiding lines at the bottom of the pool. The event on Sept 11 also features 2, 5 and 10 km swim races....

The 1 km swim is in a short loop of 50 m, 450 m, 50 m, 450 m in front of the center's buildings. I will start practicing there during the coming weeks a few times. It is a 10 km bike ride from home, so I will combine the practice swims with a 20 km bike ride (after watching the youngsters doing their races in the triathlon, I have the ambition to do a "Try a Triathlon" race myself next summer; the run might be the problem with my left knee).

Next to the WIFC buildings is a canoe club where Welland kids enjoy summer camps at the moment. Behind there on the photo above a new outdoor sport complex has been built and was recently opened. It offers pickle ball courts, tennis courts, beach volleyball courts and basket ball courts.

Empire is a construction company, apparently the main corporate sponsor for this new complex which offers these courts free to the public, managed by the city.

Built with capacity to host tournaments and events. Here overlooking the tennis and outdoor pickle ball courts. There is also a artificial grass field, maybe for outside curling type of sports...

Backyard

Our very low maintenance backyard - yes, I admit to be a lazy person when it comes to doing work in our house or garden - is looking lush and green after lots of sun and a good day of rain.

The deck will need some work next spring, but continues to be our little resort at home...

Last Sunday was a very nice day with Mark - who just turned 28 - and friends (see previous post)
 

Trying triathlon

Fiona, Carly and Mark + a few friends of Mark & Carly tried a triathlon race in Grimsby last Sunday. They offered what they call a "Sprint Triathlon" (500 meter swim, 25 km bike, 5 km run) and a "Try a Triathlon (350 meter swim, 10 km bike, 2.5 km run). It was very well organized. Next to the registration area was the field were the bicycles were set up, located along the shores of Lake Ontario for the swim.

 

After the swim and the cycling, the racers started their run, where friends and family had nice spots to cheer them on. Not easy to see "who is who" when the racers are in the water....

Mary and Susan had prepared a few funny signs. One of the signs was to be shown to Mark and friends by Carly and her two running partners who all participated in the "Try a Triathlon" event which took place after the "Sprint Triathlon".

Mark finished in a respectable 1 hour and 37 minutes, closely followed by two of his friends and Fiona did also very well with 1 hour 55 minutes.

Carly did the finish together with one of her friends in the race with shorter distances. Afterwards hamburgers and sausages at Carly & Mark's place in nearby Stoney Creek. A very nice day...