Dive Calgary opens Mark Lowry Portable Dry-land Training Area

February 11th, 2009

(L to R) Igor Kopecky, Mandy Moran, Brendan Lowry, Jennifer Lowry, and Penny Joyce

CALGARY – Diving Plongeon Canada and the family of the late Mark Lowry are pleased to announce that Dive Calgaryhas been awarded the second grant from the Mark Lowry Memorial Sport Excellence Fund.  The $30,000 grant is a tribute to the Canadian Olympic Committee’s former Director of Sport and was awarded to Dive Calgary following a recommendation provided by the Road to Excellence Program.  Lowry had a strong association with the sport of diving as executive director of Diving Plongeon Canada from 1979 to 1986, and developed many relationships with the association’s national team members and volunteer leaders.

The grant has been used to establish the Mark Lowry Portable Dryland Training Areaand has added much-needed dry-boards, trampolines, mats and resistance-training equipment to the training space currently on-site at the Talisman Centre in Calgary.  With the Talisman Centre closing for roof-replacement in 2010, the portable equipment allows Dive Calgary to take their full complement of dry-land equipment to a new, temporary location.

Dive Calgary head coach, Igor Kopecky, is thrilled that Dive Calgary was chosen as the recipient of the Mark Lowry Memorial Sport Excellence Fund.  “The club has made such incredible progress on the provincial, national and international diving scene over the past five years.  It is a great reward to the athletes and coaches for the club to receive funding to enhance and expand our training space”.

“The dry-land training component in diving is critical to the development of international caliber athletes,” says Diving Plongeon Canada chief technical officer Mitch Geller. “Dive Calgary has some of the top coaches in the country and in the world. Adding the Lowry dry-land training area will provide these coaches with the tools they need to build their stable of world-class athletes.”

The Mark Lowry Memorial Sport Excellence Fund is supported primarily by the Mark Lowry “Drive for the Podium” Golf Tournament which is held annually in Ottawa in memory of the well-known sport administrator who was instrumental in establishing the Own the Podium and Road to Excellence programs. 

"By contributing to diving, we believe we can continue the dream that my father had,” says Brendan Lowry, son of the late Mark Lowry. “If we, as a country, wish to maintain a competitive edge in the world of amateur sport, we must do what it takes to allow our athletes to have the very best in all aspects of their training. This is what we hope to accomplish with the money raised each year at the Drive for the Podium Golf Tournament."

Mark Lowry was also the executive director of Rowing Canada from 1986 to 1992 and of Canadian Interuniversity Sport from 1992 to 1997. He passed away on October 22, 2005 following a two-year battle with pancreatic cancer.

Both Brendan and Jennifer Lowry, Mark’s wife, were on-hand for the unveiling of the Mark Lowry Dryland Training Area in Calgary today.

About Diving Plongeon Canada
Diving Plongeon Canada (DPC) was established in 1967 as a not-for-profit organization to promote the growth and awareness of the sport in this country. As a member of FINA, the world’s governing body of aquatic sports, DPC contributes to the development of globally accepted standards of excellence in diving and supports the rules and regulations of international competition. Representing nine provincial diving associations, 67 local diving clubs and close to 4,000 high performance athletes, DPC shares a national commitment to advance the art and sport of diving and to position Canada as the number one diving nation of the world.  For information, visit www.diving.ca.

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