How a college campus in Victoria became home to Canadian world medallists
CBC
The track on which world records, breakthrough medals and Paralympic dreams were forged sits hidden in a slight valley next to a parking lot.
It's a 400-metre loop that's provided the groundwork for so much success over the past half-decade, yet it's extremely easy to miss amid the campus buildings perched up above.
But when the track does come into view, you become witness to a well-oiled laboratory of high-performance training — exemplified by the image of world-record 1,500-metre runner Nate Riech jogging in a lane to the right of two-time wheelchair racing world medallist Austin Smeenk on a Tuesday morning in January, nine months away from the Paralympic Games.
The track is part of Athletics Canada's West Hub, located at the Pacific Institute for Sport Education on Victoria's Camosun College campus.
The hub started in 2014 as a training centre for the next generation of Olympic and Paralympic hopefuls. Ten years later, it's home to Riech, Smeenk and many other athletes who have everything from physiotherapists to sports scientists and wheelchair technicians at their disposal, all in one place.
"When you're surrounded by people that are making the right decisions, it's easy to do the same for yourself," said Smeenk, who moved to Victoria from Toronto in September 2022.
Indeed, success has only bred more success in the B.C. capital.
Heather Hennigar, a former track athlete turned endurance coach, was the first full-time staffer to migrate west in 2014. Ten years later, she now holds the position of hub lead.
Until 2018, she worked on development with younger athletes who had either yet to hit their prime, possessed untapped potential or both.
"I think that was one of the real positives was that there was a long-term vision and an understanding that these things take time. [You] can't flick a light switch and suddenly everything's going to be in place," she says now. "Any time there's aspirations and you look at where you are on that trajectory, it's motivating."
Hennigar, who is originally from the opposite Canadian coast in South Maitland, N.S., said she emphasized clear communication between coaches and athletes while providing fulsome support across all aspects of training and of life.
"The major things for me are that people aren't wasting time worrying in terms of putting something on the table, that it's an open learning environment, that people are working well together," she said.
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Now, the hub features multiple training rooms, specialized coaches and trainers who are at the ready to address any lingering issues — all within one building.
