December 17, 2012 (Toronto, ON) – On Friday December 15th at the Wheels of Bloor Bike shop Brandon Etzl and Saskia Kowalchuk were awarded $1,000 each as joint winners of the 2012 Wheels of Bloor Young rider bursary.
The Wheels of Bloor bursary started last year as a way for the WOB cycling team to help out a few young local riders and encourage development in the sport of cycling. This year the bursary grew not only in size from $1200 to $2000 but also in the number of applicants with 15 strong young riders applying.
It was a difficult task to select the winners with so many great and deserving applicants. The WOB team ultimately decided on Brandon and Saskia not only because of their accomplishments over the past season but also due to their community involvement and approach to the upcoming 2013 season. We congratulate our two winners and wish them the best in the 2013 season.
Here are some highligts from both Saskia and Brandon’s applications:
Saskia Kowalchuk
Hamilton, ON
Category in 2012: U19 woman
Team: Team CHCH National Cycling Centre Hamilton
Community Involvement
Development coach at Team CHCH working with incoming athletes 3 nights a week
In the summer helped to organize the CHCH Youth Cup Championships and the Go Girls cycling initiative to get more young women involved in cycling.
Facilitator with the Tri-Cyle program where NCCH goes into schools in the Hamilton Wentworth District School Board and test students ages 10-18 on a 1 km computrainer course. Those children who are identified are invited to join the program and eventually make up our large youth rider base.
2012 Highlights:
Canadian National Time Trial Championship: 1st Junior Women
Canadian National Road Race Championship: 5th Junior women (top Ontario finisher)
National Challenge Criterium: 18th Junior women
Grand Prix de Rimouski UCI 2.2 World Cup: 13th Junior Women
Horseshoe Valley Road Race: 2nd Junior Women
Provincial Time Trial Championships: 1st U19 women
Klemskerke Kermis, Belgium, 27th U19 women
World Championship ITT 40th U19 women
Overall Winner of U19 Women’s OCup,
Nominated for Ontario Cycling Association’s Female Road Athlete of the Year.
2013 Goals First Year U23 Woman
Gain experience in the elite field
Podium at Ocups
Podium at the Grand Prix de Charlevoix
Podium placing in the U23 field at the National Championship Time Trial.
Represent Ontario at the Canada Summer Games and potentially podium/ top 5 in the Time Trial.
Brandon Etzl
St. Catharines
Category in 2012: Junior Men
2013 Team: Jet Fuel
2012 Team: Spidertech PB Powerwatts Junior Team
Academic Accomplishments:
Honour Roll Grade 12 – Eden High School
Enrolled at Brock University for Human Geography
Volunteer Experience:
St. Catharines Cycling Youth mountain bike race team and coaches members – weekly
St. Catharines Cycling Club picking up garbage for the ‘Adopt a Road’ program
Accomplishments:
2012 Junior World Championship Selection Camp, Belgium
2012 Ontario Provincial Junior Road Champion
2012 Canadian National Junior Road Championship, 2nd Place
2012 Canadian National Junior Criterium Championship, 3rd Place
2012 Tour de l’Abitibi Stage 6, 1st Place
2011 Ontario Provincial Hill Climb Champion
2011 Junior 1st Place Ontario Cup Road Series Points Leader
2013 Goals: First Year U23 Men
Race Elite Senior 1/2 races in Canada, Europe, and USA
Race Tour de Beauce
Make the Selection for the Team Canada U23 National Project
Podium Finish in a Ontario Cup road race in the S 1/2 Category
Top 5 finish at National Road Race U23