Allison Cross, Vancouver Sun

Somewhere between nine training sessions a week in water and on land and her studies at the University of Victoria, Paralympic swimmer Stephanie Dixon finds time to give back.

Although she was once told she'd never even ride a bike, she volunteers and teaches rock climbing to kids with disabilities, said Peter Vizsolyi, the head coach of UVic's swim team.

"She's an interesting girl. She has a tremendous amount of energy," Vizsolyi said. "She'll really step forward to do things."

CBC Sports Online

Canadian Paralympic athletes have been in a league of their own when competing at the Olympics.

The 2008 team consists of 143 athletes - the same number the Canadian Paralympic Committee sent to the 2004 Athens Games.

Canada finished third in the medal standings during the last two Paralympics, and Canadian officials are hoping for another top-five placing this year in Beijing.

With the Paralympics set to begin Sept. 7, here are 10 athletes who should help Canada reach its top-five goal...

A tentative schedule for UVic Students wishing to try out for the Varsity Program, covering the next two weeks, is available here!

The Year in Review Newsletter is now available on the Newsletter Page!

UVPCS swimmers Karley Stutzel and Dave Creel have been selected to represent Canada at the 2004 Fina World Open Water Championship Trials to be held September 11, 2004 in Atlantic City, USA.

In 2004, UVPCS has the unique privilege of being the only BC Club, and one of only two in Canada, represented at all three of the world’s top international meets – the Olympic Games (Nathan O’Brien), the Paralympic Games (Stephanie Dixon, Ron Jacks - Coach), and the World Open Water Championships (

UVPCS’ Nathan O’Brien has now completed his events at the 2004 Athen’s Olympic Games. In his first Olympics, Nathan reached the semi-finals in the 200 Backstroke. He finished the event with a 10th place finish in the heats (time: 2:00.49) and a 14th place finish in the semi-finals (time: 2:00.13). He also swam a personal best time of 2:00.01 in the 200 Butterfly, finishing 23rd overall. Not bad for a rookie!

Congratulations Nathan

Congratulations to UV-PCS swimmers who were named to short course 2004-2005 BC Provincial Teams.

• Alyssa Bakken - Backstroke Girls 12&U
• Nicole Crawford - Distance Freestyle Girls 13-14
• Hollis Roth - Butterfly Girls 15-16
• Ryan Clouston - IM Boys 16-17
• Mackenzie Downing - Butterfly Girls 18&U

See the SwimBC web site for more information.

View the complete schedule of days and times for all UVPCSA groups and programs now on the schedule page.

Last year at the Calgary inaugural Club Nationals UVPCS placed 12th of over 65 teams, a remarkable feat for a Club in its first year of operations. This year, after less than two years in operation, we scored 884 points and placed 7th among over 100 teams from across the country attending the meet. UVPCS was the 3rd highest scoring club in BC, after UBC Dolphins and Langley Olympians. Congratulations to all our Club Nationals competitors and coaches!!

Our top-eight finishers included: