Saanich triathlete Jordan Hopkins did his part at the B.C. Summer Games in Nanaimo last weekend after he chipped in four silver medals to help the Island zone to second overall in the standings with 183 podium finishes.
In four races, the F1 triathlon (200-metre swim, three-kilometre bike, 1km run), the super sprint triathlon (500m swim, 10km bike, 3km run) an aquathlon (300m swim, 1km run) and a duathlon (1km run, 5km bike, 1km run) at Westwood Lake, only one thing stood between Hopkins (15) and first place, Gold River’s Josiah Ney, who swept all four golds.
“I’ve known Josiah for three years and I’ve always been trying to chase him down. It’s fun chasing him, I got a lot closer this weekend, so that’s a good thing for me,” Hopkins said.
Hopkins, a Cordova Bay resident, has come a long way to get to this point.
It’s been 13 years since he was diagnosed with neuroblastoma as a two year old. It took him a year to beat the aggressive form of childhood cancer and he’s never relapsed, though most who are diagnosed with neuroblastoma do, said Hopkins’ mom, Lisa.
The treatment for neuroblastoma is one of the most intense and can cause secondary cancers to form as well.
As he grew up, Hopkins built his way to becoming a triathlete with swimming, track and field and mountain biking.
He qualified for the B.C. Games at the Victoria Youth Triathlon in June where he was second to Ney. Hopkins is an avid mountain biker but also trains on his road bike at the velodrome.
At Westwood Lake, he actually beat Ney out of the water in the swim portion of the triathlons, testament to Hopkins’ commitment to swimming with the Claremont Sports Institute academy.
With longer swim distances in Hopkins’ future, he believes he’ll have a better chance to catch Ney.
“I’ll be traveling and camping this summer but I’d like to continue competing in triathlon next year,” Hopkins said.
Hopkins wasn’t the only Saanichite to pick up four medals at Westwood Lake. Fourteen-year-old Hannah Henry of Mount Douglas secondary took silver in the duathlon and bronze in the aquathlon, super sprint triathlon and F1 triathlon.
Simon Whitfield greeted the triathlon competitors on Saturday.
Some of Saanich’s top results include gold for Kaitlyn Aylesworth and Marina Hurst in synchronized swimming, and a golden sweep of the 4X100m boys and girls relay. Liam Gatensby, Jesse O’Neill-Bains, Finley Jantzen of Greater Victoria partnered with Oliver Speagle of Port Alberni for the boys while Thea Matthews joined three up-Island teammates for the girls.
Swimmer Aly White won gold in the 50m freestyle and bronze in the 50m backstroke.
In sailing, Tara Golonka won gold in the optimist (single-handed) blue fleet. Lauren Christensen and Danielle Cyr partnered for silver in the girls 420.
Volleyball players Sam Woodland, Taylor Collombin and Hannah May helped their team win bronze.
Additional results available at bcgames.org.
reporter@saanichnews.com