Sport British Columbia announced their Athlete of the Year awards nominee’s and there were four members of the swimming community amongst them; Ryan Cochrane, Hilary Caldwell, Randy Bennett and Brianna Nelson.
In all there will be 17 awards given out on March 5th at the Fairmount Hotel in Vancouver. The Sport BC Athlete of the Year awards were first given out in 1966 and is Canada’s longest running sport recognition event.
Cochrane is up for the Male Senior Athlete of the Year award, which if he were to win would be the second consecutive year that he will receive the honour. After a year where he collected Olympic silver in the 1500 freestyle in London, Cochrane continued to add hardware to his collection winning World Championship silver in the 1500 freestyle and bronze in the 800 freestyle.
Also contending for this year’s award is Kamloop’s Kelly Olynyk who after an incredible year at Gonzaga was drafted 13th overall by the Dallas Mavericks and subsequently traded to the Boston Celtics.
Caldwell is in contention for the Female Senior Athlete of the Year award. Caldwell won bronze in the women’s 200 backstroke at the World Championships in Barcelona.
Bennett has been nominated for the Coach of the Year honour. In 2013 Bennett was not only the Head Coach of the Canadian World Championships Swim Team, but he was also the personal coach of all three of the country’s medal winners at the event; Cochrane, Caldwell and Eric Hedlin.
Nelson is up for the Athlete with a Disability award. Nelson was one of the stars of Canada’s team at the IPC Swimming World Championships winning gold in the 50 butterfly, silver in the 200 IM and 4 x 100 freestyle relay and bronze in the 50 freestyle.
