Bronze as good as gold for rower Cameron

BY CHRISTY MARSTERS

The Hants Journal

NovaNewsNow.com

Members of Tracy Cameron’s family hold their breath in the grandstands as they await the results from a photo finish in the women’s lightweight double sculls at the 2008 Summer Olympics in Beijing, China.

Back in Nova Scotia, it’s four in the morning and 60 people have crowded into the living room around a television set in Urbania, a small community just outside of Cameron’s hometown of Shubenacadie, to watch the event. The room is tense until results are revealed.

“And then the big hooray went up,” Tracy’s grandmother, Pearl Cameron, said.

Tracy and Melanie Kok finished third in a tight race with the German team as the pair earned a bronze medal for Canada and a spot on the Olympic podium by 0.004 seconds.

Tracy called home after the race and everyone had a chance to congratulate her, Pearl said. “The whole community has been behind her. We love her dearly and are so happy for her.”

Chuck Cleary, a retired senior physical education teacher at Hants East Rural High School in Shubenacadie, taught, coached and knew Tracy during her teenage years in school.

“She was really keen and an academic person,” Cleary said. “She put 100 per cent in everything.”

Tracy was always very determined and put a real effort into the things she liked, Cleary said. “She used to come into the gym a lot. She loved volleyball and was a good all-around athlete.”

It was a bit of a surprise to discover she took this direction in sport when she moved to Alberta, Cleary said. “I heard she missed the water back in Nova Scotia so much she just started rowing.”

Tracy moved out west 12 years ago after obtaining an undergraduate degree in Kinesiology at Acadia University, and first picked up paddling at the Calgary Rowing Club as a recreational sport at the age of 25. It has taken only eight years to hone her skills to Olympic status.

Doug Cameron, Tracy’s father, said he traveled to Beijing with his wife Sandy and son Troy to watch his daughter in the Olympics. “The whole experience was incredible,” he said of the bronze medal triumph.

Tracy was one of the top athletes in high school and she always had that competitive edge, Doug said. “We’re so proud of her. She’s a great sport and has a really good attitude.

“She’s just such a bubbly person and this is a characteristic the Canadian team can feed off,” he said. “Also, I think this win was a good kickstart for everything else to be won.”

The whole Olympic experience was phenomenal, Doug said. The people of Beijing treated guests well and he says, “it’ll be a hard Olympic year to outdo. Beijing put on an incredible show.

“And to know everyone back in Nova Scotia is behind her is just great,” Doug added.

Premier Rodney MacDonald added to the accolades Aug. 17, congratulating Cameron and Kok in an e-mail.

“On behalf of all Nova Scotians, I want to offer my congratulations to Tracy and Melanie on their exciting medal win; you've made us very proud," MacDonald said. "It takes such tremendous dedication and perseverance to make the Olympics, let alone win a medal."