Island Swimming's Ryan Cochrane nominated for BC Male Athlete of the Year

Cochrane, Haywood nominated as B.C. athletes of 2009

By Cleve Dheensaw, Times Colonist January 24, 2010

Swimmer Ryan Cochrane of Victoria and canoeist Nicole Haywood of Nanaimo, both on beam for the 2012 Summer Olympics in London, and the Pat Sanders curling rink of Victoria left their imprints on the world stage in 2009.

They’ve all been rewarded with nominations as Sport B.C. athletes of the year.

The 44th annual Sport B.C. Awards, open to amateur athletes and teams, will be presented March 31 at the River Rock Show Theatre in Richmond.

The angular yet powerful Cochrane followed up his bronze medal in the 1,500-metre freestyle at the 2008 Beijing Summer Olympics by winning silver in that event and also picking up a bronze in the 800 metres at the 2009 world aquatics championships in Rome.

Cochrane is nominated for B.C. male athlete of the year. The Claremont grad is up against rising golf sensation Nick Taylor of Abbotsford, the 2009 world No. 1 amateur, and skier Manual Osborne-Paradis, who had three World Cup victories in two disciplines in 2009 and expects to be heard from next month in the 2010 Vancouver Winter Olympics.

Haywood, the 2009 world champion in women’s 500-metre C-1, is nominated as B.C. female athlete of the year. She is up against swimmer Annamay Pierse of UBC, silver medallist in the 200-metre breaststroke at the world aquatics championships in Rome, and softball pitcher Danielle Lawrie of Langley, named NCAA player of the year after leading the University of Washington Huskies to the 2009 U.S. collegiate national title.

The Sanders rink won the 2009 senior women’s world curling title and has been nominated for B.C. team of the year alongside the Canadian Junior ‘A’ RBC Cup hockey champion Vernon Vipers and the CIS national champion UBC Thunderbirds women’s volleyball squad.

Other Islanders nominated include rower Eric Jackson of Mill Bay in the junior male category, 2009 Camosun basketball standout Carmen Lapthorne in the college category and Pacific Northwest Golf Association senior women’s player of the year Jackie Little of Port Alberni in the masters athlete sweepstakes.