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the wake of his father swimming achievements.

But the 25-year-old Ocean
Falls native has never
doubted his own abilities.
Rather than make a futile
attempt to out-swim a
legend, he has moved quietly
up the ladder of swimming
success.

Gate’s quiet persistence
has led him back to the pro-
vince where his father,
George, launched so many
swimming careers. As of
September 1, the younger
Gate took over the coaching
teins of the West Vancouver
Otters Swim Club.

From 1948 to 1974, the
smail coastal British Colum-
bian town of Ocean Falls
placed swimmers from the

NEW COACH of the Wt Vancouver Otters Swim Club, Richard Gate
poses in front of a portion of the 80 club members he will be guiding this

By TIMOTHY RENSHAW

town’s Ocean Falls Amateur
Swim Club (OFASC) on 21!
of 22 Canadian national
swim teams; those swimmers
brought home to Canada a
total of 59 medals.

George Gate pioncered
that amazing Ocean Falls
success as the OFASC’s
coach until the summer of
1964, when he moved his
family and swimming savvy

to Montreal. He subsequent- .

ly coached Canada’s 1968
Olympic swim team.
George’s particular genius
with stroke styles and
coaching techniques and his

NEW COACH FOR TEAM

Gate opens

RICHARD GATE has spent a lifetime laboring in

string of successes have since
been rewarded with a place
in Canada’s Sports Hall of
Fame. He continues
coaching today at the helm
of Montreal’s Point Claire
swim club.

POOL RAT

Born in Ocean Falls in
1960, Richard Gate says his
family was quite naturally
awash in pool waters from
as far back as he can
remember, ‘‘I've been a pool
rat since I was a kid.’’

Accepting that he will
always be faced with com-
parisons between himself
and his father, Gate says
those comparisons thus far
have little validity, ‘‘because
he’s up there in the swimm-

year. Gate’s father, George, has garnered world renown for his contributions

THE NORTH Shore Colts were- the victims of
Pacific Rim Soccer League (PRSL) regulations Sun-
day as they dropped a 3-1 decision to New
Westminster Queens Park Rangers.

For what would have been
the most important game of
his soccer career thus far,
Colts’ keeper Chris Melandis
was ruled ineligible to play
in the team's semi-final
game against the PRSL
Jeague champions.

Melandis failed to produce

| By TIMOTHY RENSHAW |

his league identification card
Sunday, and though he has
played with the Colts since
June of the PRSL's inaugu-
raf season and is registered
at the Jeague’s head office, a

protest from QPR’s coach
Joe Bell regarding Melan-
dis's lack of identification
was upheld by PRSL of-
ficials,

With no back-up keepc:
available and with only a
13-man squad, Colts’
fullback Graeme Slee, who
has never played goal, was
forced to take over for
Melandis.

Commenting on
Melandis situation
chairman Grant

the
Colts
Johnstone

{5 - Wednesday, September 25, 1985 - North Shore News

for Otters

ing stratospheres and I'm at
the bottom, just starting out.
People have said | am simi-
lar to him in personality and
I suppose I am, but I’m dif-
ferent too. I do my own
thing.”

Gate says his brother and
both his sisters were all in-
volved in competitive
swimming at various times in
their lives. Until he was 12,
Gate says he too swam com-
petitively, but the pressures
of that competition on the
Gate family convinced him
to abandon that aspect of his
swimming career and to pur-
sue Other interests.

He dabbled in electronics
and physical education. The
lure of the pool, however,
did not diminish for Gate.

He swam for Montreal’s

said,“‘How ridiculous can
you get? The league is sup-
posed to be concerned about
its image. Something like
this does nothing for it at
al. It’s just absolutely
stupid.”

Johnstone added that the
league’s choicé to play the
semi-final in Queens Park
was another questionable
decision: ‘“‘It was the last
choice of team directors.
First, the stands are 50 yards
back from the field, second,

John Abbott College; at 19,
he began coaching with his
father at Point Claire.

Under his father’s
tutelage, Gate learned the
importance of stroke tech-
niques and the various
secrets of successful
coaching, such as the need to
keep interesting what can be
the deadening monotony of
swim training.

BISCIPLINE NEEDED

“Swimming has rightly
been compared to a rat race.
My father believed in the
hard work and the strict
discipline needed to be suc-
cessful in that rat race, but
he never let me forget the
simple enjoyment of swimm-
ing and the need to keep that

NEWS photo lan Smith

to Canadian swimming. He provided the coaching brilliance behind the
Ocean Falls swim teams of the 50s and 60s.

olitics ride Colts to defeat

the league has no control
over concessions, and third,
who wants to go all the way
out to New Westminster to
watch a soccer game? Our
team didn’t even have a
room to change in at the
stadium. We had to change
at Queens Park arena, then
walk tu the stadium.”’
Estiinated attendance at
Sunday’s PRSL_ double-
header, which also saw Van-
couver Columbus dsreat
Victoria Shooters 1-0, was

enjoyment alive in swim-
mers.

The 80-member West Van
club — which includes
swimmers from under 10 to
14-year-olds, from beginners
to national prospects —
Gate says, will enjoy a simi-
lar commitment to that same
work ethic with the addition
of his own insights into
modern stroke techniques.

“There is great potential
out here,’” he says. .t* West
Vancouver has a good facili-
ty and there are a lot of
good kids in the club. I hope
to take some of them to the
nationals this year.’’

Gate himself, imbued with
the spirit of his father, has
career aspirations set far
beyond focal success. His
goal, he says, is to be a na-
tional coach; his talents, he
believes, will take him there.

‘In our family, we were
taught that you don’t brag,
that, instead, you do. To
coach in the Olympics is not
impossible, you just have to
be good. | just hope i have
the talent to prove that I am
good enough.’”

Sabres
ready to

defend
title

The Sutherland Sabres
senior boys soccer team will
begin their drive to defend
their provincial cup title to-
day.

Although there have been
few changes in the player
roster, Daryl Samson has
taken over as Sabre coach
from Vince Alvano,

Samson says he hopes to
maintain last season's record
of five wins, four ties and no
losses.

The Sabres will play their
first game of this season
against West Vancouver
Secondary School today at
West Vancouver’s Ridgeview
Elementary. Play begins at
3:45 p.m.

Home games begins
September 30 and October 2
against Argyle and Carson
Graham respectively.

approximately 300.
PRSL president

Jim
Richardson said the Colts

have only themselves to
blame: ‘‘All the teams were
told at the September 9
league meeting that players
would be required to have
picture 1.D. cards to play in
the league playoffs. 1 mean
those are the rules. You can
make rules and break them,
I suppose, but that’s not the

See Colts

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