For those of us who sat glued to the television set watching the Beijing Olympics, wondering if Canada was ever going to win a medal, the smiling images of rowers Scott Frandsen and Dave Calders winning our first medal of the games was a welcome sight.

Born and raised in Kelowna, Scott began rowing at the age of 16 when he went to Brentwood College in Victoria. From there, he went on to row with the University of California, Berkeley. In 1999, his freshman boat finished 6^th in the nationals then won the event the next three years in a row.

He began rowing on Canada’s national U23 team in 2001 and was on the world champion winning Eight boat two years in a row. In 2003 it was off to Oxford University where he helped defeat rival Cambridge. He then paired with Cambridge’s Wayne Pomman and came sixth in the worlds in 2003, winning gold the following year in two world cup races and placing sixth in the 2004 Olympics.

Although top ten finishes in 2005 and 2006 where feats to be proud of, Scott’s 2008 Olympic silver medal was something in which all of Kelowna and, indeed, all of Canada, rejoiced.