BY SCOTT HUNTER HADDOW
When Shawn Swords was younger he dreamed of playing for Canada?s National Basketball team.
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Shawn Swords met his wife in Sudbury and the couple spend their summer holidays in the city. |
The Ottawa native, who spent five glorious seasons with the Laurentian Men?s Basketball team from 1992-97 and is now an integral part of Canada?s team, was in town recently visiting family and friends.
The elite level athlete is gearing up for Canada?s Olympic qualifying games coming up in San Juan, Puerto Rico in August.
Swords, 29 and his teammates will be looking to show the rest of the world Canadian basketball players are top level athletes. In order to qualify for the Olympics, Canada must finish in the top three out of 10 teams.
?We have a pretty good chance of making it,? said Swords. ?After the United States, there?s about four or five teams that can compete for the other two spots and Canada is one of them.?
Swords and the rest of the team have been hard at work preparing for the tough games.
For the next couple of weeks the boys will be getting battle ready. They have a mini camp in Toronto for four days, followed by a trip to the Pan Am Games for five games and then they will be back in Toronto for a final training camp before departing for San Juan.
?I would love to go to another Olympics,? said Swords. ?Hopefully we can win a medal.?
The next summer Olympic Games is in 2004 in Athens, Greece.
For Swords, it would be his second time at the Olympics. He was at the 2000 Olympics in Sydney, Australia.
?Walking into the stadium at opening ceremonies was a great feeling,? said Swords. ?When you dream about it and it happens, it just fulfills all your expectations.?
Canada finished with a 4-1 record, but lost in the quarter finals.
Canada?s head coach, Jay Triano knows Swords is a valuable piece in Canada?s basketball puzzle.
?Shawn is very unselfish,? said Triano. ?He?s not afraid to set the screen or dive on the floor to get us another possession.?
Swords is a surprising athlete.
?He surprises a lot of people with his athleticism,? said Triano. ?He chases down the ball better than anybody and he?s a great defender.?
Team Canada will participate in the Pan Am Games from Aug. 2 to 6. Then they will be off to San Juan from Aug.
20 to 31 for the Olympic qualifying games.
?It will be extremely difficult and it will take an unbelievable effort from the men,? said Triano.
Basketball has been more than just a game for Swords.
?Basketball has given me a career and I?ve been lucky to make a lot of friends that I keep in touch with,? said Swords.
?It helped me meet my wife, Shelly because she used to play for the Lady Vees and she is originally from Sudbury.?
After a recent training camp, Swords headed back to Sudbury. Swords believes summer is the best time to be in the Nickel City.
?It?s beautiful here in the summer,? said Swords. ?There?s plenty of great lakes and some fantastic golf courses.?
Swords wasn?t fond of the long, cold winters in Sudbury, but it didn?t stop him from becoming extremely fond of the town.
?Sudbury is my home now,? said Swords. ?I like the people here and I never thought I would spend as much time
here as I have.?
