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30 Sports Oakville Beaver SPORTS EDITOR:JONKUIPERIJ Phone 905-845-3824 (ext. 432) Fax 905-337-5571 email sports@oakvillebeaver.com · FRIDAY, JULY 27, 2012 POOL PARTY: Oakville resident Tera Van Beilen is set to represent Canada in swimming at the Olympic Summer Games in London. The 19-yearold surprised many in qualifying for this year's Olympics, but those who know Van Beilen best did not seem shocked at all. STEVE RUSSELL / TORONTO STAR Rising to the occasion Why nothing Tera Van Beilen does in London should surprise you By Herb Garbutt OAKVILLEBEAVERSTAFF era Van Beilen sat in the vice-principal's office, trying hard to hold back tears. One thought kept running through her mind: "This isn't fair." Yeah, she missed some classes but she always followed up with her teachers, finished her assignments and was an honours student. But what John DeBoer, now the principal at King's Christian Collegiate, was proposing just didn't seem right to her. What he was laying out for Van Beilen was a schedule that would allow her to better manage school, her training with the Oakville Aquatic Club (OAK) and an ever-increasing competitive swimming schedule that would take her to Germany, Sweden and Australia, causing her to miss weeks of school at a time. But Van Beilen didn't see herself as worthy of special attention. She even felt a little guilty about getting extensions for assignments. · · · · Two-and-a-half years later, Van Beilen was across the hall from that same office with more T than 300 friends, family and fans packing the car on the way to school, where she arrived with King's Christian gymnasium to honour her wet hair and still smelling of chlorine. There achievements. Looking slightly uncomfortable was always a blanket in the car, just in case she at being the centre of attention, the title of couldn't keep her eyes open for her first class. Twenty-five minutes after the final bell rang, Olympian still hadn't completely sunk in. she was back at the pool at 3:45 "Even now hearing that, I p.m. for a two-and-a-half hour don't feel like I'm special or "A lot of people were practice. Arriving home around worth that high of status," she surprised when she won 7 p.m., she would work on an says. "Why me? I'm not that (at the Olympic trials) essay or a lab report. If there special." was time to watch a little TV, The 19-year-old may not but people at our club she would lift herself off the think so, but there are plenty of weren't. The bigger the couch at 9 p.m. people who dispute her claim. race, the better she "Aren't you going to finish "A lot of people were sur- does." watching the movie?" her mom, prised when she won (at the Sharon, would ask. Olympic trials) but people at Oakville Aquatic Club "No, I have to get up in the our club weren't," says Dean parent and two-time morning," would be the Oldershaw, an OAK parent and Olympian Dean Oldershaw a two-time Olympic kayaker. answer. "The bigger the race, the better It's a life many athletes live. she does." But there was something that set Van Beilen "There's not a day where she's not making apart. the most of each and every day," says friend and DeBoer first saw it not watching her turn lap Olympic teammate Brittany MacLean. "She's after lap in the pool, but instead from watching her pursue rebounds on the basketball court. one of the hardest-working people I know." "She was still playing basketball (for King's) A typical day in high school for Van Beilen involved a 5 a.m. practice and breakfast in the See Van Beilen, page 31 London Life King's Christian Collegiate grad and Oakville Aquatic Club product Tera Van Beilen will compete in both the 100- and 200-metre breaststroke events at the Olympic Summer Games in London. Below are the competition dates for each of her events (all times eastern): Sun., July 29 (5:40 a.m.) 100m breaststroke heats Sun., July 29 (2:48 p.m.) 100m breaststroke semifinals Mon., July 30 (3:13 p.m.) 100m breaststroke final Wed., Aug. 1 (5:43 a.m.) 200m breaststroke heats Wed. Aug 1 (3:24 p.m.) 200m breaststroke semifinals Thurs., Aug. 2 (2:38 p.m.) 200m breaststroke final