Who Were the Canadian Engineering Rio Olympic Athletes?

Did you know that 18 of the 314 athletes representing Canada at the 2016 Rio Olympics were engineering grads?

With fifteen universities and colleges represented, you might have a couple of things in common with one of these top athletes.

To help you learn more about these exceptional individuals that represented Canada in a variety of sports, I have created a handy infographic to introduce them.

I also reached out to a few of them to get a behind-the-scene look at their training, techniques, and advice for aspiring Olympians. You can find this Q & A below the infographic.

Enjoy!

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Q & A with some of our Canadian Engineering Grad Olympians

Read the question and answer sessions below by pressing the "+" button.

Karen Paquin - Rugby 7s

Name: Karen Paquin

Sport: Rugby 7s

# of Olympic appearances: 1

Top Olympic Result: Bronze (Rio 2016)

Q1. How many years have you been playing rugby and how did you get started? I started playing rugby when I was 14. My high school volleyball coach had said to me that they were starting a rugby team and that I should give it a try because he thought the sport suited my personality. He was right. I played ever since on every team I could (junior, senior, club, provincial, university, national 7s and 15s). 15 years later, I still love the game and learning how to play it better every day.Q2. What facilities did you use for training leading up to Rio and how did it help you and your team get prepared? The 7s team is based out in Langford, BC. We are using the Canadian Rugby Centre of Excellence, as well as PISE training centre. We used those two facilities as our general quarters. It allowed us to train properly and most importantly together to find our chemistry on and off the field.

Q3. Who on your team has been playing rugby for the least amount of time? Approximately, how many years has she been playing and why do you think she picked up the sport so fast? Megan Lukan is probably the player who played rugby for the shortest amount of time. She had played a little bit when she was in high school but played basketball in the US during University. She came to Langford less than 2 years ago and was selected for the Olympic team. I think her success comes from the amount of work she put into improving. She literally works on every skill to improve every day. I believe her discipline is what brought her to the level she needed to be. She was given the opportunity to step on the field with the team but made sure she was going to learn at every opportunity she could.

Q4. How has being an engineering grad helped you with being an Olympian? Being an engineering grad helped me develop the discipline I needed to become an Olympian. As an Olympic hopeful, you need to be very disciplined about everything you do to achieve your dream. From the amount and quality of sleep you get, your nutrition and reviewing your training and game video, you need to be critical and have attention to detail to make sure you improve every day.

Q5. What advice would you give engineering grads who are good at a sport and want to take it to an Olympic level? I don't know if it is advice but anyone who whats to be an Olympian has to put everything towards it for a few years. For me, it meant leaving a job I liked to get into full-time training, 5000 km away from home.

Q6. What are your goals over the next few years? I am now turning my rugby career towards the 15-a-side game. My goal is to be part of the Women Canadian 15s team in order to win the rugby world cup in Ireland next August (#WRWC2017). The structure in place in Canada for 15s rugby is not as organized and supported as the one for 7s (Olympic) rugby. Like my teammates across Canada, I am training on my own. Here in Québec City, I have the support of the people and organization who were behind me years ago during my university: Le Rouge et Or de l'Université Laval and PCN physiothérapie.

I am also using this time here in Québec City to promote rugby for girls and young athletes. Like the reality of engineering a few years ago, the sports world is facing the challenge of bringing the number of women athletes up. I am therefore taking every opportunity to encourage women to participate in sport. I am hoping that I will help change our culture towards women's sport just like we have been doing to promote women in scientific fields.

Q7. Where should people go to find out more about you online? People can find me on:

My Facebook page: I have an athlete public page which I try to run in French and English.
My Twitter is @karen_pako
My Instagram is @karenpako

Mark de Jonge - Canoe-Kayak-Sprint

Name: Mark de Jo

Mark De Jonge - Engineering Grad Olympian

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Sport: Canoe-Kayak - Sprint (K-1 200m)

# of Olympic appearances: 2

Top Olympic Result: Bronze (London 2012)

Q1. How many years have you been kayaking and how did you get started in the sport? 19 years. I started kayaking at 13 when my family moved to Halifax. My parents signed me up at Maskwa Aquatic Club hoping that I could make some friends in the area and stay active in the summer.

Q2. You are one of the few engineering grads that balance engineering work and competitive sports. Tell us about how Stantec has supported you and give us an overview about how you split your time between work and training. I worked full-time for a few years but now I work on a casual basis because I train full-time as a kayaker. Stantec supports my training by allowing flexible work hours and allowing me to still work when I can while training full-time. Beyond being a great employer, Stantec has also been a major sponsor of mine for the past several years, which has allowed me to train at a world-class level.

Q3. Engineers Nova Scotia is one of your sponsors. How did you forge that relationship and what has its support done for you as an athlete? My relationship with Engineers Nova Scotia developed naturally as a result of engineering being tied so closely to my story as an Olympian and engineer. We both found the partnership to be a great fit. It has been great to have the support from Engineers Nova Scotia and has allowed me to stay in touch with the profession and pass along my own unique experience to other engineers in Nova Scotia.

Q4. If you were to help a friend build a home gym to improve fitness for kayaking, what 3 pieces of equipment under $500 would you recommend? Why? I would recommend a chin-up bar, a TRX strap, and an Olympic lifting bar. Back and core strength is very important in kayaking and using these three items will allow for a wide range of exercises to strengthen most of the muscles involved in kayaking.

Q5. What advice would you give fellow engineering grads who are passionate about a sport and would like to make the leap to competing at an Olympic level? I would recommend planning out all the steps that will allow them to train and compete to the best of their abilities. It is common to fall into a stale routine especially when you are busy but going through the motions isn’t going to take you to the next level. Think of all the little things in all areas of your life to allow you to optimize your training and your life in general.

Q6. Where should people go to find out more you?

Dori Yeats - Wrestling

Name: Dori Yeats

Sport: Wrestling (69kg)

# of Olympic appearances: 1

Top Olympic Result: 5th (Rio 2016)

1. How many years have you been wrestling and how did you get started in the sport? 8 years wrestling. Dad was a wrestler.

2. How did you balance training and taking a university undergrad at McGill? What facilities did you use for training at McGill? I do not use the facilities at McGill. In general, my Wrestling and Education are completely unconnected. The only connection is that I am a part time student most of the time to accommodate my wrestling training. McGill doesn't have a wrestling team, so my trainings are at Tristar Gym and Premiere Performance.

3. What are a few of your favourite nutrition hacks? My nutrition hacks aren't really hacks... I eat what I need to eat to feel good and energized at training... Carbohydrates are important before cardio and protein is important after for rest and recovery. I know for myself, I don't do well when I restrict what I can eat so I make sure to eat enough to be happy and eat what I want in moderation. Candy is my weakness though so I treat myself to that.

4. How has being an engineering student help you to become an Olympian and a decorated Pan American and Commonwealth goal medalist? [A similar question was already asked and answered by Dori in this McGill article]

5. What is your plan for the next 4 years in terms of sports and completing your civil engineering degree? In terms of school, I plan on finishing my civil engineering degree and then pursuing a masters degree but I'm not sure what masters program yet (structural, business or maybe law). For wrestling, if all goes to plan I would like to compete up to and including the 2020 Olympic games.

6. Where should people go to find out more about you online?

Twitter/snapchat/instagram : Doriyeats

Donna Vakalis - Modern Pentathlon

Name: Donna Vakalis

Sport: Modern Pentathlon

# of Olympic appearances: 2

Top Olympic Result: 29th (London 2012)

1. How many years have you been competing in modern pentathlon? How did you make the leap from playing 2 sports to all 5? I credit Pony Club and their sport, Tetrathlon, with being the gateway sport into pentathlon. I was competing in pentathlon as a 13-14 year old. Although I got a taste of all five when I was a youngster - it didn't really "stick" and I "retired" at the ripe old age of 15. Then years passed...and I was doing my Masters and needing to balance out my body from the stresses and (often overnight!) hours hunched over my computer. At that point I rejoined sport for fun and some healthy escapism... and eventually, I was delighted to find myself getting fit and strong, so then I decided why not take it more seriously and see where things lead?

2. What would you say is the best facility in Canada to train for modern pentathlon? Why? Because pentathlon demands serial single-tasking every day, it is easiest when there is a hub with all five disciplines nearby. Such hubs exist around the world, but we don't have one in Canada. Often Canadian elite athletes choose to travel abroad to join athletes from other countries at their pentathlon high-performance training centres - sport campuses that have a pool, a track, a riding arena, etc. This has the added advantage of increasing the depth and variety of training partners (and building international friendships!). I chose Toronto as my home-base for training, even though there isn’t the pentathlon infrastructure. Toronto is a great city because of the high caliber of athletes and coaches among each individual discipline.

3. What advice would you give an engineering grad who is passionate about a sport and would like to represent Canada at the 2020 Tokyo Olympics? What steps would they need take in order to do this?

Good for you!
Research the qualification process.
Set goals for the 2019/2020 season that maximize your chance of qualifying, taking into account what you already know about your current abilities. Attach specific dates and quantified metrics to achieve.
Now, using those goals, start working backward, setting the milestones you need to hit along the way...all the way back to today. And I would recommend building in 15% extra buffer time to deal with the inevitable contingency situations. Expect the road to wiggle!
And be as realistic you are inspired. Even if you do things perfectly, you still might not end up in Tokyo - but you will have maximized your chances and doubtless end up somewhere interesting.

4. What sport would you like to see added in an upcoming summer/winter Olympics? Why? More than any particular sport, I would like to see a balance between the summer and winter Olympics (right now they are skewed in terms of worldwide participation rates). Maybe doing this could also be a way to include more sports in the overall Olympic program? More generally, I also hope we can come up with creative ways to cut down on the waste and corruption that seems to be part of the bidding for major Games. For example, one idea that I’ve heard discussed is dedicating a special "Olympic City" somewhere, as a permanent base, in order to ease the requirements for building new often rushed/subpar/unnecessary infrastructure). Consider transforming existing sites which are in need of huge swaths of new infrastructure - like a current refugee settlement - into a special model of a “specialized city” ones that specializes in education, tourism, athletics and that perennially hosts multiple major Games... Whether it is this model or some other idea, I would like to see a truly socially responsible Games, ones that are “positive impact” (as opposed to low-impact, or worse, harmful), ones that re-think location and timing and infrastructure and include a wider variety of sports!

5. What are your plans for the next 4 years in terms of your pursuit of sports and engineering? I will probably be somewhere very different in four years from now, but I can’t say what that will look like. I am now setting my goals, but haven’t resolved the details… being accustomed to it from schooling and sports, I know how much you can accomplish in a quadrennial. And also how swiftly that time passes.

6. Where should people go to find out more about you online? I am just about to re-launch my website www.ThisIsDonna.com I’m on Twitter @SportIsAllOver and Instagram @ThisIsDonna

4 Things I Learned About the Olympics & Our Athletes

Engineering women were very well represented in Rio. Although women make up less than 1/5 of graduating engineers, they represent nearly 2/5 of engineering grad Olympians at Rio in 2016. Programs that help the advancement of women in sport, such as CAAWS, may definitely contribute to this success.
52% more Canadians competed in the Summer Olympic Games - Canada sent 206 athletes to the Winter 2010 games in Vancouver, and 314 to Rio Olympics. This was news to me as I always thought that Canada had more athletes qualify for the Winter Games. But, with 3x more events at the Summer Olympics, there are simply more opportunities for Canadians to compete. However, even with fewer events, Canada does better from a medal perspective at the Winter Olympics (26 @ Vancouver vs. 22 @ Rio).
It takes your full attention and typically 10+ years of experience with the sport - Although there are outliers like Megan Lukan (mentioned above) who have been playing a few short years and landed a spot on the women's rugby team, most athletes have nearly a decade or more of experience. They have excellent working knowledge of a variety of components in their life that support their success - coaching, sleep, nutrition, training, and teamwork.
Engineering grads who become Olympians don't often return to pursue an engineering career - After competing in the Olympics as one of the top athletes in the world, there are many opportunities in Canada or abroad to train the next group of Olympian or competitive sports enthusiasts. It can be hard to return to (or begin) an entry-level engineering job when the allure and pay can be much more attractive in his/her sport.

What did you think about the Rio Olympics and/or our engineering athletes? Let us know in the comments below.

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Who Were the Canadian Engineering Rio Olympic Athletes?

Add this infographic to your site using the code below:

Q & A with some of our Canadian Engineering Grad Olympians

4 Things I Learned About the Olympics & Our Athletes

Engineers, join my monthly Canadian engineering newsletter to stay informed & receive my free career resources cheat sheet!

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