Invictus athletes train on base

Team Canada captain Bruno Guevremont (centre) holds the Invictus Games flag at the conclusion of the 2016 Invictus Games in Orlando, Fla. The flag was passed to Guevremont to introduce the 2017 Invictus Games, which will be held in Toronto in September.

Peter Mallett, Staff Writer ~

Next week 90 athletes for Canada’s 2017 Invictus Games team will use CFB Esquimalt as their preparatory training camp.

The athletes, along with 11 coaches and support staff, are preparing for the international athletic competition for ill or injured current and former military members, to be held Sept. 23 to 30 in Toronto.

The third Invictus Games Toronto 2017 will bring together 550 athletes from 17 nations to compete in archery, athletics, indoor rowing, powerlifting, road cycling, sitting volleyball, swimming, wheelchair basketball, wheelchair tennis, and golf.

Team Canada athletes will be housed in Work Point barracks for the duration of their stay.

“The team is really excited to be gathering at CFB Esquimalt for the first time as Team Canada to meet their peers, coaches and other members of the support staff,” said Greg Lagacé, Team Canada Manager. “We’re eager to get going and Victoria is the ideal location in Canada at this time of the year to provide necessary training opportunities for these incredible athletes.”

Naden Athletic Centre, the Pacific Institute of Sports Excellence, Commonwealth Pool, Victoria Bowmen Archery Club, and four area golf clubs will serve as training venues for the athletes.

Morning and afternoon fitness evaluations and training sessions will take place in the gymnasiums along with team practice sessions for power lifting and sitting volleyball.

Lt(N) Krista Seguin, a Naval Logistics Officer who works in the Clothing and Small Arms Office in Dockyard, will be competing in her first Invictus Games. Lt(N) Seguin will compete in the sitting volleyball and power lifting events. In 2011 she began using the power of competitive sport to help recover from a medical condition known as Compartment Syndrome, which she developed in her right leg during basic training at Royal Military College in 2007.

“I’m excited about the road ahead and ecstatic about these camps,” said Lt(N) Seguin. “Now I know it’s for real. The first training camp will provide me with an opportunity to compare myself with the other competitors, but more importantly to get to know my teammates and coaches.” 

The Canadian Armed Forces Soldier On Program, in partnership with Invictus Games Toronto, is responsible for organizing the Team Canada training camp in Victoria.

Soldier On is committed to supporting veterans and serving members with a permanent physical or mental health illness/injury to adapt to their new normal by providing resources and opportunities to actively participate in physical activity and sport. For more information please visit www.SoldierOn.ca.