•  Eric Malmstrom M75, a long time member of the Throwers Club as well as the original Latvian Club, passed away on December 2, 2007.  He brought a great sense of humour & enthusiasm to every meet.  The Throwers Club medal was his design & over the years he donated many trophies & plaques to the Club.  This past season he had been working hard on improving his technique in all throwing events not just his favourite one, the javelin.  In the final meet of the season he got back over the 30m mark in javelin with a season best of 30.02m & was looking forward to next season as well as working towards the Worlds in Finland in 2009.  He will be greatly missed by all & our sincerest condolences to his wife & family on this terrible loss.

•  Click here for photos reminding us of what a great person & enthusiastic competitor Eric was.

•  A terrific time was had by all at the 2007 Awards Luncheon today.  Click for Complete Awards List & Season results.

•  At the members meeting, bylaws for the Throwers Club were approved.  Directors & Officers elected for 2008 are Bill Pearson - President, Rudy Boghina - Vice-President, Richard Parkinson - Member-at-Large & Barb Dabrowski - Member-at-Large.  Members also approved the establishment of a Throwers Club Hall of Fame.  This new structure will allow us to further grow the Club.

•  This was a very successful season for our club.  At the OMTFA Weight Pentathlon Championships there was a record 31 throwers participating & all our meets were well attended.  We were also very pleased to have attracted a number of throwers from the US & across Canada.  The Canadian Throwers Rankings continue to be very popular & the website is visited regularly by Masters throwers across Canada. 

•  Final 2007 Canadian Masters Throwers Rankings are now posted. Thanks to everyone who sent in results & corrections over the season.

•  Richard Parkinson is planning to organize indoor coaching sessions starting in November at York University.  Dates will be posted when available & a notice e-mailed to all members.

•  Lots of links have been added to videos on YouTube - go to Training Tips.

•  Thank you to everyone for a GREAT SEASON!!  We will work to make 2008 even better!

•  Results from our last meet of the season are posted.  It was a beautiful day and we had a strong field including four of our friends from south of the border and Bob Edwards who drove all the way from Saskatchewan to attend.

•  J.P. Mayer M60 in his first meet of the season set Canadian records in SP - 14.22m & 50.21m in DT.

•  Jim Wetenhall M53, who holds the American record in Weight Throw scored a strong 4,001 pts in WP including HT - 50.18m & WT - 19.79m.  Joe Myers M55 set a PB in WP with 3,675pts incl. an excellent 14.32m in SP.  Ray Bzibziak M53 had 2,481pts in WP just off his season best.

•  Bob Edwards M65 set a Saskatchewan Masters record just missing 3,000pts with 2,934pts in WP.

•  It was great to see Kristen Dajai W44 back in action for her first WP since Sep 2005.  She finished with a very good 2,747 pts.

•  Evalds Viskers M81 increased his leading triathlon score to 2,228pts & Eric Malmstrom M75 cracked the 30m barrier in JT with 30.02m.

•  Canadian Masters Throwers Rankings as of September 28, 2007 are now posted.  This update includes the WMA World Championships in Riccione & the BC Senior Games in Nanaimo, BC.

•  A number of Canadian records fell in the BC Senior Games:  Mae Turek W74 set Canadian records in DT - 18.34m & HT - 17.43m & Myrtle Acton W74 set Can. records in HT - 21.53m & WT - 8.54m.  Olga Walker M90 set a Can. record in DT with 11.96m.  In WP, Jim Murray M92 broke his Can. record with an excellent 4,015pts.  Complete results are available on the BC Senior Games site.

•  Rudy Boghina submitted a large number of records for approval at the CMAA meeting this week.  An updated record list will be posted on the CMAA site shortly.  Canadian throwing records are now in excellent shape & right up-to-date thanks to Rudy's efforts.

•  Note that the Throwers Club Annual Meeting & Awards Luncheon has been changed to Sat. Oct. 13th, 12:00noon at Stouffville.

September 17, 2007

       Canadian Throwers Shine at World Masters Athletic Championships

•  There were a lot of terrific performances by Canadian Masters Throwers at Riccione.  Complete results are available on the Riccione website.  Click for complete Canadian results all events.  Highlights for Canadian Masters Throwers include:

•  Our very own Garry Bachman M85 had an outstanding meet winning 5 GOLDS in SP - 10.17m, DT - 24.20m, HT- 28.05m, WT - 13.31m & WP - 4,689pts along with a BRONZE in JT - 21.36m

•  Olga Kotelko in W85 captured 6 GOLDS in SP - 4.66m, DT - 14.61m, JT - 14.00m, HT - 14.22m, WT - 7.18m & WP - 4,665pts.  She also won GOLDS in long jump and 200m along with a SILVER in 100m.

•  Boris Zaitchouk M60 put on an amazing display in HT winning GOLD & breaking the World Record with a throw of 61.96m.  He had a total of 4 throws over 60m. Emil Muller M70 won a BRONZE in HT with 45.87m and also finished 6th in WT with 17.00m. In M40 HT, Giorgio Chiappa was 9th at 35.87m.

•  In Women's javelin our very own Barb Dabrowski W50 won GOLD in a close contest with 34.22m and just missed the DT final by 9cm.

•  Marg Radcliffe W65 won GOLD in JT with 28.71m.

•  Yves Tessier M40 won BRONZE in SP with 14.30m.

•  Marek Glowacki M65 was 5th in SP with 12.51m & 5th in WP with 4,343pts.

•  Max Woerle M75 of the Throwers Club was 7th in WT with an SB of 10.68m, 8th in HT in an SB of 27.91m & 9th in WP with 2,684pts.

•  In M50 JT, Dale McRoberts was 7th at 50.26m & Mike Finkbeiner 9th at 47.57m.

•  Doreen McLeod-Smith in W80 was  4th in WT - 5.16m, 5th in HT - 11.88m, 7th in DT - 13.10m & 6th in WP - 2,669pts.

•  Bill Pearson M55 had SB's in SP - 11.45m & DT - 37.57m just narrowly edging John Hawkins at 37.24m for the Canadian M55 DT championship.  John Hawkins won SILVER in Decathlon & BRONZE in Pole Vault.  Rhona Trott in W55 had an SB in SP at 8.05m in finishing 6th in the Heptathlon. 

•  NOTE: Saturday Sep 22nd is our last meet of the season so hope to see you there.  The next Canadian Masters Throwers Rankings will be posted soon after this meet.

•  Canadian Masters Throwers Rankings as of August 31, 2007 are now posted.

•  At the Syracuse Chargers Throws meet on Aug 25/27 John Olivierre M43 had a PB of 2,559pts in weight pentathlon incl. a PB of 11.25m in WT. Click for complete results.

•  Next Throwers Club meet is at Stouffville Saturday Sep 22nd at 10:00am - your last chance to better your season's results!  Don't forget to mark your calendar for the Annual Meeting and Awards on Sep 29th at 1:00pm at Stouffville.

•  The World Masters Athletics competition in Riccione, Italy starts next week.  The meet goes from Sep 4-15 - check the Riccione website regularly for up-to-date results.  There is also a convenient link on the Home page of the Throwers Club website.

•  Great to see Perdita Felicien win a silver medal in the 100m Hurdles at the World T&F Championships in Osaka, Japan.  It has been a tough road for her to come back from injuries & the Olympic disappointment but she has overcome all this adversity to show she is a true champion.  For Canadian throwers, Dylan Armstrong was 9th in the final of SP with 20.23m, James Stacey threw 74.11m just missing the final for HT and Scott Russell in JT threw 77.54m to finish 12th in his qualifying heat.  These Canadian throwers are all young which bodes well for the future of throwing in this country.  Complete results are available on the IAAF website.

•  Complete results for the Aug 18th meet are posted.  We were pleased to welcome Canadian Olympians Jason Tunks & Leija Tunks to our meet.  It was a great opportunity for our Masters throwers to see world class throwers in action.  Welcome too to our good friends south of the border Gary Crawford M66, Joe Myer M55 & Ray Bzibziak M53.  A strong field of 21 throwers attended this meet.

•  Arvids Zakis M86 completed his first weight pentathlon of the year with 2,754pts.  This continues a remarkable 60 consecutive years that Arvids has done at least one weight pentathlon!!

•  While there were no Canadian Records set at Stouffville, there was a lot of PB's & SB's: Men - Garry Bachman M86 JT 20.02m, Evalds Viskers M81 SP 9.42m & DT 29.55m, Max Woerle M77 HT 26.06m, Eric Malmstrom M75 HT 20.33m, Bill Pearson M55 DT 36.78m & John Olivierre M43 WT 10.85m; Women - Velta Thomsons W79 DT 16.12m & Ina Legzdins W36 DT 32.86m.

•  Rhona Trott M58 became only the second women in Canada this year (Margaret Tosh M69 was the first) to complete a Weight Pentathlon and she did it in style setting PB's &/or SB's in all events including overall points at 2,640pts.

•  PB's were set in Weight Pentathlon by Joe Myers M55 - 3,453pts, Eric Malmstrom M75 - 2,671pts & Ray Bzibziak M53 - 2,446pts & in Triathlon by Evalds Viskers M81 - 2,137pts.

•  At the USA Masters Weight Pentathlon Championships held Aug 11th in Spokane, WA, three Canadians participated & did very well:  Ian Maplethorpe M40 set a Canadian Record with finishing 1st in his age group with 3,335pts; Bill Pearson M55 finished 2nd with a PB of 3,194 pts & Udo  Grady M73 finished third with 2,801pts.  The meet was very well run & the facilities were excellent. The USA Masters Nationals will be held in Spokane next year Aug 7-10/2008.  Click here for complete results.

•  Canadian Masters Throwers Rankings as of August 18, 2007 are now posted.  Thanks to everyone who sent updates & corrections.

•  Rankings as of August 5, 2007 are now posted.  This update includes the CMAA Championships held in St. John NB July 28-29.  Click for: Complete results , Doug Smith's photos and  Gilles Gautreau's Photos Day 1 and  Day 2.  The USA Masters Championships were held in Orono, Maine Aug 2-5 - Click for Complete Results.  Doug took lots of photos.

•  At the July 21st meet at Stouffville, Garry Bachman M86 continues his hot pace despite a sore knee.  He set Canadian records in Shot - 10.56m, Discus - 24.86m & Weight 13.23m as well as overall points at 4,930.  Max Woerle M76 had a season best in HT at 25.82m & Richard Parkinson M43 in SP at 12.35m.  & in WP at 2,812 pts.  Season bests in Weight Pentathlon were recorded by Max Woerle M76 (2,812pts), Dave Morris M69 (2,937pts), Eric Malmstrom M75 (2,592pts, Bill Pearson M55 (3,094pts), John Olivierre M43 (2,268pts) and Peter St. Pierre M48 (2,119pts).  Evalds Viskers M81 had a season best in the Triathlon at 2,133pts.  Click for complete results.

•  Boris Zaitchouk M59, who turns 60 just before the World Masters in Riccione in September, has been quietly working with the 5kg hammer.  On July 4th in Sherbrooke Quebec he threw an impressive 64.03m.  The current world record for M60 is held by Tom Gage of USA at 61.76m set in 2004 so Boris is clearly ready for a major assault on this record at Riccione.

•  There are lots of interesting videos done by throwers on Youtube. To find the videos search using "Shot Put", "Discus Throw", "Javelin Throw", "Hammer Throw" and "Weight Throw".  There seem to be a number of hammer throwers that enjoy pyrotechnics e.g. flaming hammer throw and Colton Hodge Flaming Hammer Throw.

•  A record 31 throwers entered the OMTFA Weight Pentathlon Championships sponsored by the Throwers Club in Stouffville June 23rd. We were pleased to welcome throwers from all over southern Ontario, the United States and Saskatchewan.  It was a challenge handling the large number but in the end everything worked out well.

•  Garry Bachman M86 continues his assault on the record book with a World Record in the M85 Weight Pentathlon at 4,962pts.  His last Weight Throw was just foul and would have given him 5,000+pts!! He also set M85 Canadian Records in Hammer with 29.80m & Discus with 27.05m. This is in addition to the records he set last month in shot & weight. The only record he is missing is Javelin!

•  We were pleased to welcome Marg Tosh W69 to her first meet at Stouffville. She responded with a Canadian Record in Discus of 23.92m & she shattered the W65 Canadian Weight Pentathlon record by over 500pts with a score of 3,793 pts. Congrats Marg!!

•  Estele Ritchie W95 set W95 Canadian records in Shot - 1.25m and Discus - 2.33m.  As far as we are aware, she is the oldest women to ever compete in throwing in Canada!

•  In addition to the records, there were some excellent Weight Pentathlons - Joe Meyers M55 USA had 3,431pts, the best by an American in 2007.  This include a fine Shot of 13.76m just short of his best this year of 13.90m which is 2nd ranked in USA.  Gary Crawford M66 USA also found Stouffville to his liking & hit 3,265 pts, 2nd best in the US this year. Richard Parkinson M43 just missed breaking his Canadian record at 2,930pts.  Damian Anisko M23 scored an impressive 3,248pts at an age when the factors are definitely not in your favour.

•  Rankings as of June 24/07 are now posted.  There has been lots of activity out west with Masters Championships held in BC, Alberta & Saskatchewan.  These results are included in the rankings update as well as the OMTFA Weight Pentathlon Championships.  Thanks to Sandy Anderson and John Hawkins for sending on results for several BC meets.  The organizers for all of these meets are thanked for the rapid posting of results on their websites.

•  2007 Outdoor Canadian Masters Throwers Results & Rankings to June 11, 2007 are now posted.  Click to View.

•  Masters Throwers are welcome at Twilight meets at York University.  The next meet is June 19th.  Click for Details

•  Masters that are members of OMTFA can join the OTFA for only $5.00!!  Click for Application Form

•  Watch a great video of world class Javelin Throwers - Bombs Away . Thanks to Richard Parkinson for passing this on.

•  Coaching clinics at Stouffville by Richard Parkinson, Level 3 Throws Coach continue - the next clinic for SHOT & DISCUS is on Monday June 25th at 6:30pm.  See you there!!

May 28, 2007

•  The First meet of the year at Stouffville on May 26th was well attended and a great success.  Click for Complete Results.

•  Garry Bachman M85 set 4 Canadian records: SP - 9.85m, DT-25.47, WT-12.92 & WP-3,810 pts.  This new WP record will surely be higher in the next meet as Garry fouled out of hammer with no points!!

•  Richard Parkinson M43 continued his strong spring showing with a Canadian Record of 2,974 pts in WP.

•  A ribbon cutting ceremony for the upgraded javelin runway was held just before the competition with Arvids Zakis M85 cutting the ribbon.  Click for photo.

•  Coaching Clinics - Richard Parkinson who is a Level 3 coach is organizing Throwers Club coaching clinics.  The next one will be on Jun 4th at 5:30pm at Stouffville - SHOT & DISCUS.  Future clinics are planned for Hammer & Javelin.  Check the website home page for dates.

•  The first edition of the Canadian Masters Throwers Rankings for 2007 are being prepared & will be posted in the next few days.

May 6, 2007

•  Cleanup at Stouffville and the big project for this year, upgrading the javelin runway, are progressing well - click here to see pictures.  This weekend, final cleanup and patching of the runway will be done as well as cutting of the new surface.  Next weekend, weather permitting. the new surface will be glued down.

•  Our first meet of the season on May 26th at 10:00am in Stouffville is fast approaching - time to get rid of that winter rust and be ready for competition!!

April 28, 2007

•  Congratulations to Garry Bachman who now officially holds the WMA M80 Outdoor Weight Throw World Record at 16.31m set in Stouffville on June 8, 2002.  A lot of persistent work by Rudy Boghina finally got the record recognized by WMA.  It also confirms that our meets at Stouffville are to World class standards!  Rudy is submitting another World Record application to WMA for Garry - his M85 indoor weight throw of 13.55m at York on Feb 25 2007 is over 2m further than the current WMA record of 11.52m by Erling Svennevik of Norway.

•  The DEADLINE for Entering the World Masters Track & Field Championships in Riccione, Italy is MAY 4th!!!  If you are planning on going, you have to get your entry form in to Brian Keaveney ASAP.

•  A successful cleanup was held at Stouffville on Saturday April 21st under Rudy Boghina's direction.  Planning is in progress to upgrade the javelin runway with material donated to the Throwers Club from the upgrade of the track at the Metro Toronto Track & Field Centre.

•  Mark your calendar - our first meet is Saturday May 26th at 10:00am at Stouffville.  Let the season begin!!

March 12, 2007

•  A lot of people have asked for an indoor rankings so we are pleased to post Results & Rankings for 2007 Canadian Masters Indoors Throwing. This includes the excellent compilation by Marek Glowacki on the Alberta Athletics site. There are however very few results available for BC throwers - anyone who has results please send them to throwersclub@rogers.com

•  The final OMTFA Masters indoor meet of the season at York U on Mar 3/07 was well attended.  Complete results are at OMTFA Champ Results. See also Doug's pics. Highlights include: Joe Myers M54 USA - SP 14.29m (2nd best in USA indoors this season); Jim Wettenhall M52 USA - WT 19.48 (Jim holds the M50 WR at 21.03m); Richard Parkinson M42 -  PB in SP of 12.49m as did Bill Pearson M54 in WT at 12.84m; and Velta Thomsons W79 had a season best 6.03m in SP.  

•  Did anyone catch the M35 60m at the OMTFA Champs?  In 2nd place in 7.28sec was Mike Ransky M36 who is a member of the Canadian Bobsled team & an excellent discus thrower.  Who said throwers can't run!

•  Highlights of 3rd All Comer Results Feb 25/07 include Garry Bachman M85 with a Can. Rec. 13.55m in WT.

•  Richard Parkinson passed on an excellent new website at www.ThrowersRings.com. This site contains information including pictures of throwing rings across USA & Canada.  As the information base grows this site will be a terrific reference source.  As soon as the snow goes we need to get more pictures & info on Canadian throwing rings.

•  Those of you thinking of going to the World Masters Track & Field Championships in Riccione, Italy should remember to check if you need to obtain a TUE (Therapeutic Use Exemption).  Application forms are available to download on the World Masters site at  http://www.world-masters-athletics.org/.The list of prohibited substances are available on the World Anti-Doping website at http://www.wada-ama.org/en/prohibitedlist.ch2

Feb 17, 2007

•  It's been a busy last month for indoor meets with 2 All Comers at York U. Click links for results: #1-Jan 21/07 & #2 - Feb 11/07. The next meet is Feb 25/07 12:00 noon at York U.

•  Highlights from All-Comers #1 incl.: Evalds Viskers Can. Rec. in M80 SP - 9.61m & Garry Bachman Can. Rec. in M85 SP - 9.97m & M85 WT - 12.10m.  Great to see Jim Wettenhall M52 USA - WT 19.76 & Emil Muller M71 QC - WT 16.29m out for our meet.

•  Highlights from All Comers #2 incl.: Evalds Viskers again breaking M80 SP record with 9.70m.  Richard Parkinson M42 had season bests in SP - 11.69 & WT-12.88.

•  Emil Muller continues his strong indoor season with a season best 17.54m in WT on Feb 3/07 at Cosaire Chaparal, Montreal.  Emil recently donated an indoor 20lb WT to CMAA & is now the Quebec director for CMAA.  With Emil's help & enthusiasm, we hope to forge closer ties to athletes & events in Quebec incl. inter-provincial throwing competitions.

•  It wasn't really if but when he threw WT indoors - Ian Maplethorpe shattered the M40 WT record with 19.10m on Feb 11/07 in Edmonton.  Ian had an outstanding outdoor season last year & holds the Can. Rec. for M40 HT at 61.03m.

•  Thanks to Brian Keaveney & CMAA for purchasing a new 12lb indoor WT to replace the old one.  We are expecting great things from Garry Bachman on Feb 25th at York!

NEW WORLD MASTERS RANKINGS

•  Thanks to Richard Parkinson for passing on the World Rankings just posted at http://www.mastersathletics.net. Canadian Throwers are well represented.  Marek Glowacki leads all men throwers with 3 world rankings, followed by Garry Bachman, Rainer Sillantaus & Jim Murray with 2 each.  For women, Olga Kotelko has 4 (incl.3 - 1st place) world rankings and Margaret Tosh and Marg Radcliffe both have 2 each.  Click for the list of World Ranked Canadian Masters Throwers.  Congratulations to all & we hope as many as possible make the 2007 Worlds in Italy!

Jan 13, 2007  Happy New Year!

•  It's a New Year and a new season!  The first indoor meet at York is Sun Jan 21st at 12:00noon.  Throwing events are shot and weight throw.  Details on the meet and e-mailing your entry are on the OMTFA website.  The complete indoor schedule is on Throwers Club "Schedule"

•  The 2007 Throwers Club schedule is now posted.  We are having our usual five meets this season, one a month from May to Sep.  The inaugural Throwers Club Awards luncheon held last year at Stouffville was very popular and will take place on Sep 22nd.  You can download a pdf file with the complete calendar and other major Masters events.

•  Thinking of going to the World Masters in Riccione, Italy Sep 4-15th?  Information is available on the WMA website.  For an entry package send your request to Brian Keaveney.  Deadline for entries is May 31, 2007.

•  Rudy Boghina is now helping out on updating the CMMA website.  We want to get some more info on throwing on the site so if you have any ideas of what you would like to see, e-mail them to Rudy.