Two Muskoka region athletes were named this week as finalists in RBC Training Ground, the Canadian Olympic Committee’s official cross-country talent search.
Huntsville’s Tyler Gevaert, a 16-year-old slalom kayaker and Huntsville High School student, and Gravenhurst’s Will Nunnenmacher, a 15-year-old climbing athlete at Bracebridge Muskoka Lakes Secondary School, were identified as having Olympic potential. They will now compete with the top 100 prospects from across the country in a series of physical tests to earn funding and an accelerated path to the Olympics.
Gevaert will look to follow in the footsteps of fellow Muskoka Kayak School paddler Owen McKay, who earned funding through the program in 2022.
“Tyler made a big performance gain throughout this past summer and secured a spot to compete in Men’s Canoe at the World Cup final in La Seu d’Urgell in Spain, and at the 2024 National Championships, he won a silver medal,” said Emily MacKeigan, senior manager of High Performance Operations at Canoe Kayak Canada. “He also did well in the RBC Training Ground testing, so we’re excited to see him get this chance to earn this support.”
Nunnenmacher competes in the relatively new Olympic sport of Speed Climbing.
“I was on the bus on my way back from school when I found out I’d made the final,” said Nunnenmacher, whose home gym is Climb Muskoka. “My mom texted me a screenshot of the email saying that I made it. I jumped up from my seat, started to dance and told all my friends. It felt amazing. As soon as I saw that I was accepted, a huge smile crept across my face and I felt that all my hard work is finally paying off.”
Nunnenmacher, who also trains twice per week with the performance team at Boulder Parc in Scarborough, will be one of the youngest competitors at the national final.
“Will caught our attention at the RBC Training Ground event in Whitby, and then had very promising in-person testing results on the wall as well,” said Libor Hroza, national coach with Climbing Canada. “He is the youngest male athlete who made our cut for this program, and we think he is at the perfect age to step up his game.”
Gevaert and Nunnenmacher were among 2,500 athletes (aged 14 to 25) from a wide range of sports who participated in free local qualifier events across the country. The athletes perform core speed, strength, power and endurance tests in front of Olympic talent scouts to either find the sport for which they are most suited or earn a funding boost in their existing sport based on their raw physical abilities.
The top 100 deemed to have great Olympic potential will compete in the RBC Training Ground national final on Saturday, Nov. 2 in Halifax, Nova Scotia. Thirty athletes from the final will earn funding, a spot on Team Canada with one of twelve partner National Sport Organizations, and an accelerated path to the Olympics.
During RBC Training Ground National Final testing, athletes’ speed, power, strength and endurance will again be tested against sport-specific, high-performance benchmarks under the supervision of program sport partners. An athlete’s anthropomorphic measurements (height, wingspan, etc.), sport-specific testing (conducted following the qualifier stage) and competitive sports history also play a role in who is selected for funding.
The finalists, who will have transportation, hotel and food covered by RBC, will be joined at the Final by RBC Training Ground alumni and several Olympic medalists.
The 30 athletes selected for funding will be announced in the weeks following the final. The funding is administered by the participating National Sport Organization bringing the athlete into its system, and is used for things like coaching, transportation, travel, equipment, and nutrition.
Bobsleigh Canada Skeleton, Canoe Kayak Canada, Climbing Canada, Cycling Canada, Freestyle Canada, Luge Canada, Rowing Canada, Rugby Canada, Speed Skating Canada, Volleyball Canada, Football (Flag) Canada, Squash Canada and Wrestling Canada are all looking to identify new talent for development.
The complete list of 100 finalists is available at RBCTrainingground.ca.
Wrapping up its 9th year, RBC Training Ground is a nation-wide talent identification and athlete-funding program dedicated to finding and supporting the next generation of Canadian Olympians. Since its inception in 2016, the program has tested 16,000 athletes at free local events across Canada, while also offering flexible virtual opportunities to participants unable to attend qualifiers in person. Since its inception, more than 3,000 have been identified by NSO partners as having Olympic potential.
Twenty-one RBC Training Ground alumni have competed at three Olympic Games, and together they’ve brought home a collective fourteen medals – including seven at the recent Paris 2024 Summer Games. Program alumni Krissy Scurfield and Avalon Wasteneys are among the most recent medal winners, bringing home silver for Team Canada. Program alumni Kelsey Mitchell (track cycling) and Marion Thénault (freestyle ski) are also among the medal winners, both of whom had never tried their Olympic sport before showing up at an RBC Training Ground event.
A new season of RBC Training Ground will be launching in early 2025. Visit RBCTrainingGround.ca for a complete schedule and details.