Canada’s top 10 female athletes

7. NAME: Jane Rumball
SPORT: Rowing, Women’s Pairs
AGE: 29

TRAINING LOCALE: Fanshawe Lake, near London, Ont.

TRAINING SCHEDULE: As the stroke of the Canadian national heavyweight-pairs women’s rowing team, Rumball trains every day, almost all year round. The training is in the form of two 2-hour practices – one in the morning and one in the afternoon. (Training moves indoors or to warmer locales in winter.)

RELATIONSHIP STATUS: Married to Adam Rumball.

MILESTONES:
• Gold (along with teammate Darcy Marquardt), women’s pairs, World Rowing Championships and Munich Rowing World Cup, 2006
• Six-time winner, Canadian University Rowing title in women’s singles
• Female Athlete of the Year, Canadian University Rowing, 2005

MEANS OF SUPPORT: Rumball receives financial assistance through Sport Canada and various other organizations. Like other members of the Canadian rowing team, she’s been “adopted” by a private patron – in her case, Dr. John Clifford of Ingersoll, Ont. – who provides a monthly stipend in exchange for motivational talks and seminars.

JUGGLING ACT: In addition to her rowing career, Rumball is a public speaker and advocate for sports who works with the athletic organizations Athletes in Action and Right to Play. She recently completed a PhD in sports medicine at the University of Western Ontario in London, and, after taking a year off from her studies to concentrate on training for next summer’s Olympic Games in Beijing, will enter medical school at the University of Toronto in fall 2008.

BALANCING TIP: Remain passionate about what you do – professionally and personally. “When you find something that you’re passionate about and that is very significant to you and to your values, it does make the ability to go from one thing to the next easier,” she says.

NEXT BIG CHALLENGE: Training and qualifying for the 2008 Summer Olympics in Beijing.

8. NAME: Kelly Scott
SPORT: Curling
AGE: 30

TRAINING LOCALE: Kelowna Curling Club in Kelowna, B.C.

TRAINING SCHEDULE: Between September and April, Scott competes in bonspiels nearly every other weekend (Thursday through Monday). The rest of the week, she practises, competes in a men’s league, meets with her personal trainer and works out. On the weekends when she’s not playing, Kelly is at the rink practising with her teammates. In the summer, Scott does three strength-training sessions each week (one with her trainer and two with her team partner). During the rest of the week, she does sport-specific training, which can include cardio, core stability and balance work.

RELATIONSHIP STATUS: Married to Chad Scott.

MILESTONES:
• Women’s world champion, 2007
• Canadian women’s champion, 2007 and 2006
• Canadian and world junior women’s champion, 1995

MEANS OF SUPPORT: Scott’s team sponsors include Sun-Rype Products, Wolseley Waterworks Group and JVC Canada. The team also receives funding from Sport Canada, which helps to cover travelling costs and allows for greater flexibility. “We can make choices that are best for the team and best for our performance based on the help that they give us,” says Scott.

JUGGLING ACT: On top of the training, travelling and competing, Scott works full time as the financial officer for her family’s business, Nutri-Lawn Ecology Friendly Lawn Care. Instead of having the day to train and rest up for a competition, she’ll spend her lunch hour at the curling rink and rush home at the end of the day to pack for a weekend away. “Quite often we go to competitions tired; it’s just racing around a lot, having to prioritize things as opposed to being able to fit in the full training package that some athletes in other sports are able to do on a daily basis.”

BALANCING TIP: Be as organized as possible. Scott and her team plan during the summer, mapping out a timetable for the next season that everyone feels is manageable and doing their best not to schedule back-to-back weekends away. Leaving her old job with the City of Kelowna to work in her family business has given Scott a better work-life balance. “I kind of have the full package now, where I feel like I can manage it all – the work, the curling and being home with my family. I feel very settled right now.”

NEXT BIG CHALLENGE: Defending her national title in February 2008 in Regina and her world title one month later in nearby Vernon, B.C.; qualifying to represent Canada at the 2010 Winter Olympics.

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