After a heartfelt introduction by Sean Martin, Barb and Norm Myden delivered to us a personal and emotional journey of their lives as parents of an Olympic athlete. Their story revolved around son Curtis, the second of their three boys, and a swimmer who competed in three summer Olympic games in the 1990s and 2000.
As we perused two large albums full of interesting articles and Cheerio sponsorships, the Mydens recounted the tremendous commitment it took from the entire family: the time that Curtis committed in practices and meets; the time that Barb put in officiating and Norm for fundraising events; and the financial commitment from both parents.
Barb talked about how she chose to officiate the swim meets in order to avoid the smoke-filled bingo halls (the fundraising aspect that she left to Norm) and the huge commitment that officiating entailed. She described the meets as “exciting, but also stressful … and expensive.” As Curtis’ competition involved a lot of travel--particularly the games in Barcelona, Atlanta and Sydney--the trips almost doubled in price with each consecutive game.
But it was all worth it. The family enjoyed the sense of community and camaraderie from the many different and interesting people they met over the years when Curtis competed.
Norm talked about how Curtis’ passion for swimming actually began in Freeport, Bahamas where they lived for five years when their boys were very young. Here their sons swam, but just treading water mostly. When they moved back to Calgary and the boys were a bit older, they joined a swim club. By the time Curtis was 10 years old, he was excelling. When he attended a swim meet in Toronto, he called home and said he needed a bigger suitcase for all of his trophies. To their surprise, he actually won every event that he competed in.
Curtis was humble about his success as a competitive swimmer, and didn’t really vocalize his wins. They realized that when he said he did “ok” or “good” that he probably won everything.
Their first Olympic adventure started in 1992 after Curtis qualified in the trials in Toronto. Now the entire family was going to Barcelona and it would be expensive. Swim Canada at the time offered no support to families such as theirs. And they were not successful finding a Rotary family in Barcelona to stay with. The Barcelona games were exciting, however. They enjoyed their time in the city and Curtis excelled, coming in second in the B Event.
In 1996, the Mydens traveled to Atlanta for their second summer Olympic experience and here they were able to stay with a Rotary family. As Curtis qualified for heats and continued to win, the Mydens were dismayed to find their very expensive seats did not even afford them a view of the video screens. After some fast-talking with the officials, though, they were able to secure some unused handicapped only seats and got to see Curtis compete and win the bronze medal in his category.
In 2000, with the help of sponsorship from Cheerios, the Myden family travelled to their final Olympic venue in Sydney. It was an exhilarating time, even though they were more or less forced to buy tickets to venues they weren’t really interested in seeing.
Through it all, Barb and Norm realized how much the swimmers sacrificed. They saw Curtis give up a lot of time for practice that he would have been spending otherwise with friends and at school. The competition was grueling, yet Curtis never complained.
Interestingly, he gave it all up after the Sydney games. Today a doctor, Curtis only swims with his kids for fun.
One of our members asked if it was a stressful time, to which Norm replied that he used to “have hair” before it all started.
Brent Stetar thanked the Mydens for sharing their story and Jane Currie presented them with a Paul Harris Plus six medal.
In 2000, with the help of sponsorship from Cheerios, the Myden family travelled to their final Olympic venue in Sydney. It was an exhilarating time, even though they were more or less forced to buy tickets to venues they weren’t really interested in seeing.
Through it all, Barb and Norm realized how much the swimmers sacrificed. They saw Curtis give up a lot of time for practice that he would have been spending otherwise with friends and at school. The competition was grueling, yet Curtis never complained.
Interestingly, he gave it all up after the Sydney games. Today a doctor, Curtis only swims with his kids for fun.
One of our members asked if it was a stressful time, to which Norm replied that he used to “have hair” before it all started.
Brent Stetar thanked the Mydens for sharing their story and Jane Currie presented them with a Paul Harris Plus six medal.