Top sports stories of 2007
The year 2007 will be remembered for a lot of great highs
and some sad lows. There was plenty to celebrate and plenty
to reflect on. Athletes, coaches, team officials and clubs
gave Sudbury fans a lot to celebrate.
From rabid city championships to international champions,
Sudbury athletes and teams gave powerful performances all
year long.
The following pages include sports stories that left a big
impact on the community as a whole.
(NOTE: The Sudbury Wolves run to the 2007 OHL Championship
isn't included on this list. Their playoff performance is
included in the Top News Stories of 2007 as the impact from
their thrilling run engulfed the entire city of Greater
Sudbury, affecting everyone positively from hard core fans to
every day people.)
By Scott
Haddow
The entire community rallied around Laurentian University when
legendary swimming coach Jeno Tihanyi died in March.
To many people, "Doc", as he was affectionately known, was more
than just a coach. He was a father, friend and respected person
around town.
Tihanyi, a swim coach and professor with Laurentian University,
died of cancer at the age of 71 on Sunday, March 4. A memorial
service was held at the Fraser Auditorium.
Tihanyi was best known for guiding Alex Baumann to two gold
medals in swimming at the 1984 Los Angeles Olympic Summer
Games.
"It's tough to take," said Baumann over the phone from Ottawa
at the time. "We knew it was coming because he was diagnosed
last summer...we just didn't think it was going to happen this
quickly."
Baumann is the executive director of the Road to Excellence
program within the Canadian Olympic Committee. He started his
job in January and his purpose is to help Canada become more
successful at future Olympic Summer Games.
Tihanyi meant the world to Baumann, as he had coached him from
the age of nine to 23.
"We had a strong 14-year relationship when I was swimming and
we stayed in touch. He was more than just a coach to me. I had
my challenges in life with the losses of my brother in 1980 and
my father in 1983. He became a second father to me,"
Baumann said.
"He was a hard working man. He never settled for second
best...he always strived to be the best. He had a very
humourous side to him as well...something some people never
knew because, on deck, he was intense. He was kind and he
taught me discipline, set goals and focused on excellence...to
be the best I could be without compromise."
Baumann will never forget his time with Tihanyi at the 1984
Olympic Games.
"Just to get out of the pool after winning the first gold in
the 400-metre individual medley and give him a big hug will be
a memory that will always last for me. I always believed we
accomplished those gold medals (together)...I couldn't have
done it without him."
Tihanyi was involved in Canadian swimming for 44 years,
experiencing a great deal of success with a long list of
international coaching accomplishments that included 17 world
records, 16 national team members, 132 international medals and
two Olympic gold medals. In April 2004, he was rewarded for his
excellence by being named the fourth coach to be inducted into
the Canadian Olympic Committee Hall of Fame.
For the majority of the period mentioned above, Tihanyi was the
head coach of the Laurentian Aqua Vees varsity swim team, which
he started in 1974 with just five swimmers. Over his 32 years
with the program the team has grown to almost 50 swimmers and
has seen his swimmers accomplish 10 CIS records, 19 OUA records
and 215 university medals.
Tihanyi was also a professor in child psychology and human
development at Laurentian University in the School of Human
Kinetics. He was the director of the division of Physical
Education from 1993 to 1996, now known as the School of Human
Movement.
