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by Chris Rourke Staff Writer While most people are trying to lose weight, Bowmanville's Troy Persaud wants to gain weight. , Persaud is a body builder and he has a goal of gaining 10 pounds a year. He currently stands at 5'4" and 190 pounds, but he'd like to put on 20 or 30 pounds over the next two or three years. This year saw Persaud begin competing in body building competitions competitions after seven years of working out. He competed in the Mr. Toronto Body Building Competition on March 22., He competed in the middleweight middleweight division and .won the competition. Persaud, who works out four- nights a week at Adonis Gym in Oshawa, began weightlifting seven years ago when he was 14. "I started working out because I wanted my body to be bigger because I was small," the 21-year- old said. "I was only 140 pounds in high school and I've put on 50 pounds of muscle since." Persaud currently has his level one card, but he wants to gain 10 pounds in the next year, so he can gain his level two card and move up to the light heavyweight division. His short size is a disadvantage to him in competition, but he overcomes overcomes that with his physique. "Being shorter, I look fuller and harder," he told The Statesman recently. "The judges look for proportion proportion and how well you pose and how the crowd reacts to you." Persaud, who was born in Toronto, but moved to Bowmanville 17 years ago, works for Brine Lacrosse Canada with lacrosse legend legend Jim Bishop. One thing that bothers Persaud is the perception that tie and other competitors use steroids. "That's the number one question we get, but for the majority of the competitions you have to be drug- free for a year and you're tested regularly," regularly," he added. As a result of his physique, Persaud was asked to pose as a Sunshine boy. in the Toronto Sun. He appeared in the April 22 edition this year. "I'm a shy person so it was a little little uncomfortable, but I was in Toronto the day after the (Mr. Toronto) competition and they asked me to do it, so I did," he said with a slight chuckle. If you'd like to see Persaud performing, performing, he'll be at the Oshawa Beach on Canada Day as a special promotion for Adonis Gym. BULKED UP - Bowmanville's Troy Persaud, centre, won the middleweight division of the Mr. Toronto Body Building competition that was held recently. At 5'4" and"190 pounds, he would like to add 20 to 30 more pounds over the next couple of years to his impressive frame. The one thing that bothers him about the sport is the perception that all competitors are on steriods. by Chris Rourke The London Knights Gardens, London drafted Chris Kelly in the fourth round and Jason Lange in the sixth round. Ontario Hockey League, must love city and hockey town," the 16- Bowmanville hockey players year-old Kelly said. "I wasn't too ^ because they drafted two in the sure because a number of teams recent draft. called me (before During the June . .. i*,-,/ n the draft)." 7 OHL draft at y^OUfllCS S Kelly received Mnnip. Leaf . •• three calls from London, two from the Erie Otters, one each from the North Bay Centennials and Owen Sound Platers. A total of 10 teams called him before the draft. He played most of the 1996-97 sea- "son with a broken about London selecting him. hand. The doctors told him he "I feel great. London is a great could continue playing so he did. for Aurora Tigers of the Metro Jr. A League this _ season, was excited Kelly had surgery on his hand weeks of in-home therapy. The St. Stephen's High School student fully expects to crack London's lineup this year, but if he doesn't, he will return to Aurora. Aurora will move from the Metro League to the Provincial Jr. A League for this season, so he'll play against the Bowmanville Eagles if he returns to Aurora. Kelly said he has to work on his upper body strength and his legs before London's training camp on August 25-26. Chris Kelly London Knights Draft Pick Bound for die NHL Courtice resident Scott Barney was drafted in the second round, 29th overall, by the Los Angeles Kings at Saturday's NHL Entry Draft that was held at the Pittsburgh Civic Arena. Barney was a member of the OHL's Peterborough Petes for the last two years. He has also been invited to the tryout camp for Canada's national junior team that will compete at the World Championships in late December. Three Clarington residents were selected in the OHL draft held recently in Toronto. The players drafted included: Round 4 - Chris Kelly, 56th overall, London Knights Round 6 - Jason Lange, 99th overall, London Knights Round 9 - Chris Pot, 147th overall, Erie Otters SECTION TWO by Jennifer Herr Staff Writer Two-time Paralympian Rob Snoek is a man with a message. The 28-year-old Bowmanville resident spoke last week at Grandview Children's Centre's Annual General Meeting in Oshawa. And his message came across loud and clear. "Every single one of us has a package of God-given gifts," said Snoek. "We have to focus on the things we can do, not the things we can't do." Snoek should know. Having lost his leg from the knee down to a congenital illness when he was one year old, Snoek found his gift in the world of sport. But he didn't immediately get involved with sports for the disabled. "Growing up was constantly about hiding my disability," said Snoek, who walks with just a trace of a limp. Wearing pants even on the hottest of days, Snoek played a variety of sports growing up in Orono. Even when he went to college college to study broadcast journalism, Snoek didn't let anyone know about his leg. "I thought disabled sport was somehow inferior to able-bodied sport," he said. Watching coverage of the 1988 Paralympics from Soeul, South Korea, Snoek got interested in participating participating himself. "I saw that, just like Olympic athletes, they had to work hard to get there. Growing up, I had always had a dream of playing in the NHL or going to the Olympics," he said. The Paralympics provided him with a "level playing field." In 1989, Snoek entered the 100 metre dash, because, in the Olympics, that event "seemed to boil it right down to see who was fastest."Training a couple of times a week, for an hour at a time, Snoek went to the Canadian championships championships thinking he'd go all the "In the back of my mind, I didn't didn't think disabled sports would be that much of a challenge," he said. What resulted was a "humbling experience," and he soon increased his training dramatical- Since then, Snoek has participated participated in the Paralympics in Barcelona, Spain, and Atlanta, Georgia, taking part in the 100- and 200-metre dash, the four-by- 100 relay, and the long jump. Snoek said improvements in technology have allowed disablec athletes to perform beyond their wildest dreams. "In the last seven or eight years, some really amazing products have come on the market," said Snoek, who uses a Flexfoot, a carbon carbon graphite artificial leg with a spring on the bottom, attached to a running shoe. In the Paralympic 100-metre dash, such technology allowed a record to be broken by four-one-hundredths of a second. Still not in possession of a Paralympic medal, Snoek told the audience that medals aren't really Continued on page 3