TRURO, N.S. — Successfully hosting last year’s Down Syndrome World Swimming Championships (DSWSC) has earned a national Prestige Award for the Rath Eastlink Community Centre (RECC).
The facility and event organizers were honoured with the Canadian Sport Tourism Alliance’s (CSTA) Sport Event Legacy of the Year Award during its 13th annual event held last week in Ottawa.
The swimming championships was the first major poolside event hosted at the RECC.
“It’s nice to be recognized among your peers as an organization, certainly, but I think just the culture of the organization, everyone from our members involved, peers and our staff,” said general manager Matt Moore, who attended the awards. “Just having such a positive attitude, overall enjoying our success together has been the standout for me.”
The awards recognize those who work to bid, host and stage sport events across the country.
And as host community, the greater Truro area was also honoured by the CSTA for its efforts.
The swimming championships and other successful sporting events helped give the Town of Truro and Colchester County residents the distinction of scoring very high on the Global Sport Impact Canada Index, by placing 12th out of 59 communities with a population of under 50,000 people.
“We are also listed as 33rd out of 119 international event host cities/towns in Canada,” general manager Matt Moore said. Truro also placed 6th in that category for communities with a population of 50,000 or under.
Overall, the Sport Legacy Award and GEI standings are a testament to how much the RECC and the host community have grown together in recent years, Moore said.
“We’ve always kind of generally said ‘we’re on the map and we’re attracting some different event opportunities’ but we’ve never really been measured,” he said. “And when you look at those other communities in the top six, there’s Banff, Alberta and Kelowna, B.C. and Charlottetown, P.E.I. It’s pretty great just to be in that category. So, It’s certainly important.”
And Moore said hosting the World Down Syndrome Swimming Championships enabled the RECC to add to its infrastructure so that it can attract more national and international swimming events.
“I think that the legacy award is measured by the events throughout the country that have the most significant impact on the community,” he said.
More than 150 volunteers signed on to help out and the success of the championships itself enabled the RECC to make a “significant investment” by upgrading its infrastructure with such amenities as an arena screen, additional seating, timing systems and dehumidifier upgrades.
The facility and the community hosted, fed and entertained more than 500 athletes, coaches, trainers, family members and supporters from more than 25 countries.
Environmental innovation was also demonstrated through the reduction of plastic waste by using large water dispensers rather than disposable bottles while bicycles and buses were used to help reduce the carbon footprint.
But the most enduring legacies are new programs established in partnership with the Autism Society Swim Class and the Special Olympics swim club as well as a newfound awareness of inclusiveness within the community.
“It brought some great awareness to our community on what inclusive sport is all about. I think everybody got to see all the pure aspects of sport and the camaraderie amongst athletes and countries and cultures, so that was a highlight,” Moore said.
