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40 Sports Oakville Beaver SPORTS EDITOR: JON KUIPERIJ Phone 905-845-3824 (ext. 255) Fax 905-337-5567 email sports@oakvillebeaver.com · SATURDAY, SEPTEMBER 16, 2006 Singleton, 62, a real Ironman Local resident posts personal-best time at gruelling event in B.C. By Jon Kuiperij BEAVER SPORTS EDITOR Terry Singleton, to borrow an old expression, is getting better with age. The local resident recently competed in the second Ironman triathlon of his life, completing the gruelling Subaru Ironman Canada event in Penticton, B.C., last month. More notably, Singleton trimmed nearly an hour off the time he posted three years ago in his previous Ironman, finishing this year's race in 14:23:31 -- at the age of 62. "It's very difficult when you're comparing two different sites; Lake Placid in 2003... was (13-15 degrees Celsius) Terry Singleton and torrential rain the whole race, while Penticton was 33-34 degrees and luckily no humidity," Singleton said when asked to explain his drastic improvement. "I think the difference was I was retired. I was able to train not only longer distances, but when I wanted." Singleton, who retired last Christmas, also reaped the dividends of several new workout strategies. He participated in the CycleSpin program at Cyclepath Mississauga twice a week, worked on core strength and stretching at the Oakville YMCA, and integrated brick training (training two disciplines during the same workout with minimal or no interruption) into his preparation. "I lost a fair bit of weight, and when you're lighter it's easier to take the weight up the hills," said Singleton, who completed the 180-kilometre cycling portion of the race in 6:46 (49 minutes quicker than in 2003). "Being retired, training twice a day, the core strength and stretching... brought it all together." He also benefited from the support of several family members and friends who attended the race. His wife Lesley, daughter Katie, Katie's finacee Antony Meredith and Ant's mother Gleynis, as well as Singleton's friends Johnny and Marguerite Robichaud, dressed in yellow and spread out throughout the course. "I was always looking for someone in yellow, which was quite an incentive," said Singleton. "The bottom line is you can't do something like that without family backing. You have to have a pretty considerate wife and family for that, and they're absolutely tremendous." Veteran of 150 triathlons Singleton, who also received assistance from The Running Company in Oakville and Fitness Technique in Milton, finished 14th out of 40 entrants in the 60-64 division, 1,650th overall out of 2,350 competitors. Though last month's race was his second Ironman, he has run triathlons for more than 22 years and estimates he has competed in nearly 150 races. A semi-pro soccer goalkeeper when he lived in England, Singleton found it too hot to play soccer after he moved to Oakville in 1980. He first turned to long-distance running, competing in several marathons, but found they took a huge toll on his body. Triathlons, as it turned out, do not. "With the cross-training that you do, the body was happy with that," he said. So how long does he anticipate continuing to test his physical limits? "As long as my body is still going and I'm sensible about it," said Singleton. "Until the body says no." -- Jon Kuiperij can be reached at sports@oakvillebeaver.com. Dawson picked in first round of NLL draft IRONMAN: Terry Singleton cycles through the Okanagan Valley during last month's Subaru Ironman Canada competition, held in Penticton, B.C. The 62-year-old local resident completed the race -- which consisted of a 3.8-kilometre swim, 180-km bike and 42.2-km run -- in a time of 14:23:31. One of Paul Dawson's birthday presents came a little early this year. The lacrosse goaltender, who turns 21 today, was selected in the opening round (seventh overall) of Wednesday's National Lacrosse League entry draft by the San Jose Stealth. "I had played pretty well in a top prospects game a month ago and my name was getting tossed around as a prospect," Dawson said yesterday. "I had been talking to San Jose and they said they were pretty high on me, but I still didn't know I would go that high." Dawson played the past two seasons with the Brampton Excelsiors junior A club. The Excelsiors had a strong 2005 season but missed the Ontario Lacrosse Association playoffs this summer with a 10-12 mark. Dawson is excited about the opportunity to compete against older brother Dan, who has starred for several years with the Arizona Sting. "It's great, I am looking forward to it," he said. "But I'm trying to create my own path as well. This is why I gave up hockey, to play lacrosse. It takes a bit of weight off my shoulders." Dawson was a defenceman with the Oakville Blades for five years before being traded to the Milton IceHawks near the end of last season. He turned down an opportunity to play hockey at the University of Southern Maine, opting instead to focus on lacrosse. He is uncertain about his chances of cracking the Stealth lineup this season, noting there are a couple young goalies in the San Jose system. "I don't know what their plans are," he said. "It could be a dogfight between me and another guy for the backup spot, but I'm going to work my hardest to be in there." If he does make the team, the Stealth wants him to relocate to San Jose during the season. Two key members of this year's Oakville Buzz national junior B championship team were also selected in the draft, both by the Rochester Knighthawks. Brenden Thenhaus, the OLA's leading scorer this summer, was picked 37th while Kyle Hagel went 74th. -- Jon Kuiperij BALL HOCKEY PLAYERS WANTED Non Contact - Exciting - Competitive - Fun Men's, Women's, Youth & Co-ed Leagues · All Skill Levels Welcome! Beginner to Pro · Reg., Individual, 1/2 Team or Full Team Only $125 per person/season Hurry! Season Starts September 2006 www.sbhl.ca CALL 416-907-4907