Orléans
native and Gloucester Concordes speed skating club member
Isabelle Weidemann was recently honoured as the Female Athlete
of the Year for 2018 at the annual Ottawa Sports Awards
gala.
Weidemann
has been a member of the Canadian long track speed skating
team for the past three years and competed at the Winter
Olympics in South Korea last February where she placed in
the top 10 in both the 3,000 and 5,000 metres. But it was
her accomplishments in the later stages of 2018 for which
she was honoured last week.
The 23-year-old
former Colonel By Secondary School student started the current
World Cup season by winning a gold medal in the 3,000-metre
event in Japan. It was her first ever individual medal in
international competition. She followed that performance
up with a silver medal in the 5,000 metres in Poland and
a second silver medal in the 3,000 metres in the Netherlands
and she currently sits in first place in the overall World
Cup standings.
During
a recent interview with the Canadian Press, Weidemann said
that her sixth and seventh place performances at the Olympics
motivated her to train harder during the off season and
provided her with the goal of finishing on the medal podium.
"I got
a sense I was close and nothing drives anybody more than
being just off the podium," said Weidemann. "I worked very
hard towards it this year and really made it my goal to
jump to the next level. I'd been stuck at in that fourth,
fifth, sixth place for awhile now. I was really driven to
make that jump to the top three."
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 Gloucester
Concordes coach Mike Rivet recevies the Lifetime
Achievement Award for coaching at this year's
Ottawa Sports Awards gala. Photo supplied
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Weidemann's
first coach with the Concordes was also honoured at this
year's Ottawa Sports Awards gala. Mike Rivet received the
Lifetime Achievement Award for a career that has spanned
more than three decades.
Besides
Weidemann, Rivet has also coached fellow Olympians Ivanie
Blondin and Vincent De Haitre, as well as Orléans deaf blind
athlete Kevin Frost, not to mention the hundreds of skaters
who have passed through the Gloucester Concordes ranks during
his tenure with the club.
His generosity
and enthusiasm was noted in his commendation by the Ottawa
Sports Awards selection committee.
"For Mike
it has never mattered if the person he was coaching was
just learning to skate or if they were preparing to represent
Canada, he would treat them all with enthusiasm, respect,
and share his evident love of the sport of speed skating,"
they stated. "He is truly the first person that comes to
mind when anyone in the sport talks about coaching in Ottawa."
Rivet
has previously been named Ontario Speed Skating Coach of
the Year and Speed Skating Canada's Coaches Award of Excellence.
Fellow
Orléans native Rachel Homan picked up her eighth individual
award in curling at the Gala. The Cairine Wilson grad bounced
back from a disappointing Winter Olympics to win several
World Cup and Grand Slam of Curling events this past fall
and her rink is currently ranked first on the World Curling
Tour. They
also recently broke the record for most all-time Grand Slam
of Curling wins with their 10th title.
No fewer
than five area teams were named among this year's recipients
for Team of the Year, including two Cumberland United Soccer
Club teams. The Cumberland Cobras Masters Women's team was
honoured for winning the Ontario Cup and finishing third
at the National Championships, and the club's U15 girls
Academy team was named for winning the Ontario Cup and placing
fourth at Nationals.
The Gloucester
Cumberland Devils U14 ringette team was honoured for being
the first Devils team to win a provincial AA title in
over 12 years and the Gloucester Wolverines U16 boys basketball
team picked up an award for winning the provincial Division
1 championship.
Last but
by no means least, the Louis-Riel seniors boys basketball
team received a Team of the Year award for winning the OFSAA
'A' provincial high school championship.
(This
story was made possible thanks to the generous support of
our local business partners.)
THE ORLÉANS BREWING CO. presents Oyster Wednesdays every Wednesday Co. is located at 4380 Innes Rd. near the Innes Road McDonalds. For more information visit 
THE OTTAWA SCHOOL OF THEATRE presents an all ages production of Treasure Island in the Richcraft Theatre at the Shenkman Arts Centre. Showtimes Thursday, April 18 and Friday, April 19 at 6:30 p.m. and Saturday, April 20 and Sunday, April 21 at 1:30 p.m. Tickets $20 for adults. Students and youth 25 and under $10. To purchase visit 
TAPROOM 260 presents Michael Ben-Shalom live from 8-11 p.m. at 260 Centrum Blvd. For more information visit 
TAPROOM 260 presents The Underground live from 8-11 p.m. at 260 Centrum Blvd. For more information visit 
CLASSIC PIANO RECITAL – Orléans pianist Emily Hou will be performing works by Chopin, Mozart, Rachmaninov and Liszt at Kanata United Church as part os the Beaverbrook Community Concert Series. The recital will start promptly at 3 p.m. Kanata United Church is located at 33 Leacock Dr. in Kanata. For more information visit 
