It was another personal best for Salmon Arm’s Rick Say.
On Oct. 1, the three-time Olympic Games competitor was in Whistler where he and fellow Olympian Mike Mitenko were inducted into Swim BC’s BC Swimming Hall of Fame.
“It was really special and I really appreciated it…,” said Say, who currently resides in North Saanich. “I didn’t believe I was getting in there. You hope it might happen.”
This was the third induction ceremony for Say. He was inducted into the Okanagan Sports Hall of Fame in Vernon in 2014 and in 2015, the Greater Victoria Sports Hall of Fame.
Say was born May 18, 1979 in Salmon Arm, where he swam as a child for the Salmon Arm Sockeyes Swim Club with his two brothers and two sisters. At age 18, he began attending the University of Victoria and started to swim more seriously.
Say was a regular on the Canadian National swim team from 1998-2008 racking up 20 national titles, 16 medals in the World Championships, PanAm Games, Pan Pacific Games, and Commonwealth Games combined, five Canadian records in individual events and a large amount of national relay medals. He represented Canada in the Olympic Games in 2000, 2004, and 2008, reaching the finals of the 200 metre freestyle in 2000 and 2004.
Say also represented Canada in the World Championships in 2001, 2003, 2005 and 2007, in which he was an integral part of the relay teams in the finals.
Say said he left swimming in 2012 to focus on life and a career outside of the sport.
Read more: Say inducted to hall of fame
Read more: Salmar seeks excellence in the Shuswap
“I spent a decade in the pool, around the pool, putting time and energy in there and I was looking to focus my time and energy somewhere else,” he said. A big focus has been his family, including his five-year-old son and his eight-year old daughter whose own growing interest in swimming has prompted Say to dip his toes back in the sport.
“This summer she was very excited and very interested in investing in her swimming so we did a couple of meets and she ended up really liking it,” said Say. “This is like what I grew up with, swimming in Salmon Arm, so I have a real special place in my heart for it. I see real value in it, and there’s a lot of real positive things in the summer swimming program, socially and with skill development…
“We ended up going to five or six meets this summer – she went to regionals, she won a couple of medals, she went to provincials, she won a medal. She’s like over the moon with swimming.”
While he’s stood back and let his daughter develop her own love for the sport with the Sidney Piranhas Swim Club, Say decided it was time for him to get back in. He is now the club’s vice president, and is his using his wealth of experience to help develop the club.
Say said he’s always valued giving back in some way – something he did through various bodies/organizations including the Canadian Olympic Committee.
“I feel like I was a building block in the Canadian swimming program…,” said Say. “I may have been a small stepping stone in that, but I feel very proud of those things that I did to make it so there was a chance for some of these other people to be successful.”
Regarding his own accomplishments, though he didn’t medal in the Olympics, his record in the sport remains outstanding.
“One of the things that I did was I went to nationals one year and I won the 50(-metre) freestyle, the 100 freestyle, the 200 freestyle, the 400 freestyle and the 800 freestyle,” said Say. “In Canadian swimming, that has never been done before. That will probably never be done again… I know I did it, a few people around me at the time probably know I did it. But people aren’t striving to do that. It’s just not possible.”
Asked if his kids have seen his large portrait painted on the wall at the Salmon Arm pool, Say said they saw it last summer.
“They were looking at it and going ‘that’s pretty crazy!’” said Say, who was impressed with the accomplishments of local swim club members also on the walls at the pool.
“I think the Salmon Arm Sockeyes have done a good job with all the banners on the wall, respecting what people have done in the club and trying to promote that and celebrating excellence,” said Say. “I really feel like we miss that in a lot of our sport community actually. That was something I was trying to push when I was involved in the Olympic committee and a lot of these other organizations… I think the celebrating is what builds that community.”
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