3 · Thursday, December 3, 2009 OAKVILLE BEAVER · www.oakvillebeaver.com Olympian still carries torch for the games By Angela Blackburn OAKVILLE BEAVER STAFF After 50 years and a lot of real life, Oakville's Robert Cameron Lundy "Cam" Grout still carries a torch for the Olympics. In his Olympic heyday, he was a swimmer for the Canadian team at the 1960 Olympics in Rome -- he was 20. Last week, that torch he bears ignited significantly as he carried the Olympic torch in St. John, New Brunswick as part of the cross-Canada Olympic torch relay. Today, the 70-year-old Grout doesn't really swim anymore and has a full working and family life under his belt. "It was phenomenal," said the former chair of Parks and Recreation Oakville, and board member of Sheridan College and Oakville Harbour Authority. His wife, Marsha, daughters Christi Grout, of Toronto, and Robin-Grout Ogden, of Oakville, head of school at Fern Hill School, and two grandchildren, Tyler, 4 and Sydney, 18 months, were there to see him. So were his brother Derek and his wife, Jennifer Grout of Nova Scotia. "I was lucky enough to be standing there as an athlete when the Olympic flame was lit in Rome, and now, 50 years later, I got to carry the torch on its way for the flame to be lit. It was special," said Grout. Retired just two years from an investment career, Grout -- under his Olympic torch bearer's uniform -- wore his 1960 Olympic sweatshirt. "It's kind of battered and beat up after all this time, but I still have it," he said of the sweatshirt. Much like any swimmer feels jumping into the water, Grout said it "was exhilarating" to carry the torch Nov. 24. Grout took part in the 1960 Olympics in Italy from Aug. 26Sept. 3, 1960. Similar to the excitement he must have felt in July of that year, preceding his trip, it was last July when he learned he would carry the torch this year. Last week's torch run was something of a belated birthday gift for Grout, who turned 70 on Oct. 23 -- 50 years after NIKKI WESLEY / OAKVILLE BEAVER JUST LIKE YESTERDAY: Long-time Oakville resident and swimmer at the 1960 Olympics in Rome, Italy, Cam Grout felt the years melt away as he carried the Olympic torch in New Brunswick. he'd been in Rome. "It was special," he said. Like many kids, Grout started swimming as a toddler, but he was 13 when he "began swimming" with the Montreal Amateur Athletic Association. "There's swimming and there's swimming," he laughed. By luck he was standing there when a new coach asked if anyone wanted to join and he volunteered, he said. That eventually led to practicing nearly five hours a day and paying the freight for all of it himself. "In 1960 it was really amateur athletics and we were fully expected to pay for everything. There was no such thing as Sport Canada," said Grout. "I was lucky enough to go the British Empire Games, the Pan-American Games and the Olympics," he said. The Montreal native attended Montreal's McGill University as a youth and swam and played water polo with the university swim team. In 2002, he was inducted into that University's Sports Hall of Fame. At 5-foot-10 and 174 lbs, Grout as a young swimmer competed for three years with the McGill swim and water polo teams (1957-60) before graduating with a Bachelor of Science in 1962. He won the Forbes Trophy in 1959-60 as McGill male athlete of the year, after winning eight intercollegiate titles and setting school records in 10 different events, specializing in the butterfly, individual medley and freestyle strokes. He also held numerous Québec and Canadian records. Selected twice, in 1958 and 1959 as amateur athlete of the year by the Montreal Sportsman Association, Grout swam for Canada at the 1960 Rome Olympics. There were no medals brought home that year, but some awesome finishes, including Grout's -- he finished fourth in the 4x100m medley relay and also swam in the 200m butterfly and 100m freestyle. At the Pan Am Games in 1959, Grout had won silver in the 400m medley relay and bronze in the 800m freestyle relay. Prior to that, at the 1958 British Empire & Commonwealth Games in Cardiff, Wales, Grout had won silver in the 4x110 medley relay and bronze in the 4x220 freestyle relay. Still, nothing compares to the Olympics in Grout's heart. When Grout was notified he would be carrying the torch this year, but that it would be in New Brunswick, he said, "I told them I have no problem with that." He carried it for approximately 350 metres, but it took a little longer than the usual minute or so as a fire truck, with sirens blaring made its way past just as he was doing the run. "We had to slow down a little," Grout laughed, adding, he was grateful because it gave him extra time to savour the moment. It was indeed a second Olympic moment in time for Grout. He said he stayed very active in swimming and athletics for years afterwards, but career and family eventually took precedence. "You have to do real life stuff," he said. After a transfer brought him to Oakville in 1976, he ended up buying the family home not far from where his father, a former Bank of Toronto manager in town and canon at St. Jude's Anglican Church, grew up. Grout's grandfather, James Lundy Grant, first moved here in 1913. Grout said when he was in his 40s he took part in swimming at the Masters level, however, he said after competing at the Olympics, it's a tough act to follow and nearly impossible to top. St. John did a great job of embracing the Olympic torch run last week, said Grout, expressing hope that Oakville will give it a similar welcome. "I know I'll be putting on my suit and standing out there," he said. And while it's special to carry the torch, there's something about it that's infectious. "Most people who watch it go by find it meaningful and inspiring," said Grout, adding many people, particularly children, posed for photos with him after his run was completed. The torch will go through Oakville on Dec. 19. At nearly four pounds, the Olympic torch is long and lean. Torch bearers carry it for 300-400 metres -- a run that lasts about a minute. However, the memory of doing so will last a lifetime. The 2010 Vancouver Olympic Games are taking place in February, but the Olympic torch is well on its 106-day, 28,000-mile-run across Canada. It will pass through 1,036 communities and is being carried by 12,000 torchbearers. The flame will be carried by people in planes, boats, and dog sleds, on bicycles, skateboards and surfboards. It will culminate back in Vancouver at B.C. Place Stadium on Feb. 12, 2010 for the Olympics' Opening Ceremonies. Most torchbearers have earned the right to carry the torch by participating in a contest, a lottery sponsored by sponsors Coca-Cola and RBC,based on a short submission detailing how they contribute to a strong Canada. Grout was able to participate as a former Olympic athlete.