{"id":412,"date":"2015-07-17T14:56:59","date_gmt":"2015-07-17T18:56:59","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/activeseniorsdigest.ca\/wp_activeseniorsdigest\/?p=412"},"modified":"2015-07-17T14:56:59","modified_gmt":"2015-07-17T18:56:59","slug":"family-of-athletes-behind-pan-am-torchbearer","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/activeseniorsdigest.ca\/wp_activeseniorsdigest\/?p=412","title":{"rendered":"Family of athletes behind Pan Am torchbearer"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"Pan<\/a>
Norma Douglas holds her silver Pan Am medal that she received during the 1955 Pan Am Games.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

By Joel Wittnebel<\/strong>\/Active Senior’s Digest<\/p>\n

Times change. Training changes. Sports change.<\/p>\n

If one thing has stayed constant, it\u2019s that the Douglas family is an athletic one.<\/p>\n

It\u2019s one of the reasons the younger generation of the Douglas family nominated their grandmother, Norma Douglas, to bear the Pan Am torch when it comes to their hometown of Oshawa, Ontario.<\/p>\n

\u201cGrandma has been an inspiration for our family\u2019s athletic careers and we\u2019ve been pretty blessed that we\u2019ve all had the opportunity to be professional athletes and it has to stem from somewhere,\u201d says Kyle Douglas, Norma\u2019s second-youngest grandchild.<\/p>\n

For the humble Norma, 84 \u2013 who was a part of history, competing in synchronized swimming at the Pan Am Games in 1955, the year the sport debuted on the Pan Am circuit \u2013 she didn\u2019t think carrying the torch would happen.<\/p>\n

\u201cBecause of my age, I never thought this would come to be,\u201d Norma says.<\/p>\n

\"Pan<\/a>
Norma Douglas in 1955 when she competed in the Pan Am Games in Mexico City.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

A silver medal<\/strong><\/p>\n

The athleticism didn\u2019t start with Norma. Moving from England, Norma\u2019s mother was also a devout swimmer and had her daughter in the water at a very young age.<\/p>\n

\u201cShe wanted me to be involved as early as I could in swimming, so she took me to the Y before I can remember being there to be taught how to swim,\u201d Norma says.<\/p>\n

Growing up in Peterborough, Norma started out with speed swimming before the ornamental swimming coach noticed the strength of her skill. She would be recruited to the team.<\/p>\n

For a time, Norma did both; but eventually, she fell in love with the ornamental sport and the challenges it presented.<\/p>\n

\u201cYou were always doing different things. There was always something new to learn. It wasn\u2019t just getting better at one thing or the two things…so I enjoyed it more. It was more challenging,\u201d Norma recalls.<\/p>\n

And in 1955, the Pan Ams announced a synchronized swimming tournament would, for the first time, be a part of the games.<\/p>\n

\"Pan<\/a>
Norma Douglas’ 1955 Pan Am Games synchronized swimming team.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Her coach inquired about putting together a team from Canada.<\/p>\n

With a relatively new sport only being practised in major cities across the country, there wasn\u2019t enough to host a sub-tournament to pick a team. So, Norma\u2019s team put in a bid to represent Canada and was chosen.<\/p>\n

The team of 12 girls travelled to Mexico City to compete and was greeted with a surprise when they got there.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe pool was larger than we expected,\u201d Norma says. \u201cWe had to change our routine and expand because coverage of the pool was part of the requirements.\u201d<\/p>\n

The team also had its first experience with underwater speakers, allowing them to hear their routine\u2019s music while performing certain positions underwater.<\/p>\n

Despite the changes, the girls prevailed and brought home a silver medal.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt was exciting,\u201d Norma says. \u201cThat\u2019s all I can think about. We were all just so excited that we had won a medal.\u201d<\/p>\n

Norma says her coach was, perhaps, ahead of her time in her coaching.<\/p>\n

\u201cShe trained us how to control our different muscles in our bodies. She didn\u2019t know the names of the muscles, but she told us which ones we were going to be using and how to control them, and through that control, we could perfect the figures,\u201d Norma says.<\/p>\n

Since then, Norma has remained heavily involved in the sport, ranging from forming the Oshawa Synchronized Swimming Club \u2013 now the Durham Synchro Club \u2013 in the 1970s to refereeing at the Canadian Synchronized Swimming Nationals when they were held in Oshawa in 1971.<\/p>\n

Her reasons for keeping so close to the sport are simple.<\/p>\n

\u201cBecause I loved it, and most of us did and that\u2019s why we still keep in touch with each other. We always loved what we were doing,\u201d Norma says of her Pan Am team.<\/p>\n

Four generations of athletes<\/strong><\/p>\n

Starting with Norma\u2019s mother, it would seem athleticism is in the Douglas blood.<\/p>\n

Norma\u2019s daughter is also a multi-time national champion in synchronized swimming. Her grandson Kyle, now 29, is a national champion in cycling, winning the Cycle Cross National Championships in 2006. Kyle now also manages Three Rox Racing, a successful team of mountain bikers, which the Douglas family started more than a decade ago.<\/p>\n

Also, her grandson Ryan, 37, won a Founders Cup with the Green Gaels Junior B lacrosse team in 1998.<\/p>\n

Kyle, who also sits on the local Pan Am committee, was the one who nominated his grandmother for the community torchbearer position, something the family kept a secret from Norma since the papers were filed in November.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s rare that we get a games in our backyard,\u201d Kyle says. \u201cI was like, that would be an awesome family experience to have grandma run with the torch,\u201d he says.<\/p>\n

For Ryan, the experience will be a great bookend for his grandmother\u2019s athletic career.<\/p>\n

\u201cYou either get your jersey retired, you go in the hall of fame, or you get the chance to do something like be a torchbearer. So at the end, or at some point in your career, it\u2019s an extra bonus, or reward\u2026it\u2019s awesome,\u201d he says.<\/p>\n

Prepping to run<\/p>\n

Norma admits she is slightly nervous to carry the torch, but she\u2019s doubled her time on the treadmill in order to prepare for the run on June 5.<\/p>\n

Norma will carry the torch for part of its 41-day relay, which will see it travel more than 5,000 kilometres by road and 15,000 by air through 60 different modes of transport.<\/p>\n

The relay commenced on May 30 and culminates with the lighting of the cauldron during the opening ceremonies of the Pan Am Games on July 10.<\/p>\n

Thinking of the thousands of athletes preparing to compete in the games, Norma offers her own words of advice.<\/p>\n

\u201cTreat it like any other competition,\u201d she says. \u201cIt\u2019s a huge event in your life and enjoy it and do the best you can.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

By Joel Wittnebel\/Active Senior’s Digest Times change. Training changes. Sports change. If one thing has stayed constant, it\u2019s that the Douglas family is an athletic […] Read More<\/a><\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":413,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"spay_email":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_is_tweetstorm":false},"categories":[10],"tags":[],"yoast_head":"\nFamily of athletes behind Pan Am torchbearer - Active Senior's Digest<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/activeseniorsdigest.ca\/wp_activeseniorsdigest\/?p=412\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Family of athletes behind Pan Am torchbearer - Active Senior's Digest\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"By Joel Wittnebel\/Active Senior’s Digest Times change. Training changes. Sports change. If one thing has stayed constant, it\u2019s that the Douglas family is an athletic […] Read More\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/activeseniorsdigest.ca\/wp_activeseniorsdigest\/?p=412\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Active Senior's Digest\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2015-07-17T18:56:59+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/activeseniorsdigest.ca\/wp_activeseniorsdigest\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/07\/feature_panam.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"720\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"454\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"active\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"5 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"http:\/\/activeseniorsdigest.ca\/wp_activeseniorsdigest\/#website\",\"url\":\"http:\/\/activeseniorsdigest.ca\/wp_activeseniorsdigest\/\",\"name\":\"Active Senior's Digest\",\"description\":\"\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"http:\/\/activeseniorsdigest.ca\/wp_activeseniorsdigest\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":\"required name=search_term_string\"}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-CA\"},{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/activeseniorsdigest.ca\/wp_activeseniorsdigest\/?p=412#primaryimage\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-CA\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/activeseniorsdigest.ca\/wp_activeseniorsdigest\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/07\/feature_panam.jpg\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/activeseniorsdigest.ca\/wp_activeseniorsdigest\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/07\/feature_panam.jpg\",\"width\":720,\"height\":454,\"caption\":\"Pan Am Torchbearer\"},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/activeseniorsdigest.ca\/wp_activeseniorsdigest\/?p=412#webpage\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/activeseniorsdigest.ca\/wp_activeseniorsdigest\/?p=412\",\"name\":\"Family of athletes behind Pan Am torchbearer - Active Senior's Digest\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"http:\/\/activeseniorsdigest.ca\/wp_activeseniorsdigest\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/activeseniorsdigest.ca\/wp_activeseniorsdigest\/?p=412#primaryimage\"},\"datePublished\":\"2015-07-17T18:56:59+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2015-07-17T18:56:59+00:00\",\"author\":{\"@id\":\"http:\/\/activeseniorsdigest.ca\/wp_activeseniorsdigest\/#\/schema\/person\/0afb1f9f2b1987c4466bd36c4ecf6e6e\"},\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/activeseniorsdigest.ca\/wp_activeseniorsdigest\/?p=412#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-CA\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/activeseniorsdigest.ca\/wp_activeseniorsdigest\/?p=412\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/activeseniorsdigest.ca\/wp_activeseniorsdigest\/?p=412#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"http:\/\/activeseniorsdigest.ca\/wp_activeseniorsdigest\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"Family of athletes behind Pan Am torchbearer\"}]},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"http:\/\/activeseniorsdigest.ca\/wp_activeseniorsdigest\/#\/schema\/person\/0afb1f9f2b1987c4466bd36c4ecf6e6e\",\"name\":\"active\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"@id\":\"http:\/\/activeseniorsdigest.ca\/wp_activeseniorsdigest\/#personlogo\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-CA\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/6943e03346fb73ef2c47ed71cc41f7a5?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/6943e03346fb73ef2c47ed71cc41f7a5?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"caption\":\"active\"},\"url\":\"https:\/\/activeseniorsdigest.ca\/wp_activeseniorsdigest\/?author=1\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"Family of athletes behind Pan Am torchbearer - Active Senior's Digest","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/activeseniorsdigest.ca\/wp_activeseniorsdigest\/?p=412","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"Family of athletes behind Pan Am torchbearer - Active Senior's Digest","og_description":"By Joel Wittnebel\/Active Senior’s Digest Times change. Training changes. Sports change. If one thing has stayed constant, it\u2019s that the Douglas family is an athletic […] Read More","og_url":"https:\/\/activeseniorsdigest.ca\/wp_activeseniorsdigest\/?p=412","og_site_name":"Active Senior's Digest","article_published_time":"2015-07-17T18:56:59+00:00","og_image":[{"width":720,"height":454,"url":"https:\/\/activeseniorsdigest.ca\/wp_activeseniorsdigest\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/07\/feature_panam.jpg","type":"image\/jpeg"}],"twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"active","Est. reading time":"5 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"http:\/\/activeseniorsdigest.ca\/wp_activeseniorsdigest\/#website","url":"http:\/\/activeseniorsdigest.ca\/wp_activeseniorsdigest\/","name":"Active Senior's Digest","description":"","potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"http:\/\/activeseniorsdigest.ca\/wp_activeseniorsdigest\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":"required name=search_term_string"}],"inLanguage":"en-CA"},{"@type":"ImageObject","@id":"https:\/\/activeseniorsdigest.ca\/wp_activeseniorsdigest\/?p=412#primaryimage","inLanguage":"en-CA","url":"https:\/\/activeseniorsdigest.ca\/wp_activeseniorsdigest\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/07\/feature_panam.jpg","contentUrl":"https:\/\/activeseniorsdigest.ca\/wp_activeseniorsdigest\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/07\/feature_panam.jpg","width":720,"height":454,"caption":"Pan Am Torchbearer"},{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/activeseniorsdigest.ca\/wp_activeseniorsdigest\/?p=412#webpage","url":"https:\/\/activeseniorsdigest.ca\/wp_activeseniorsdigest\/?p=412","name":"Family of athletes behind Pan Am torchbearer - Active Senior's Digest","isPartOf":{"@id":"http:\/\/activeseniorsdigest.ca\/wp_activeseniorsdigest\/#website"},"primaryImageOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/activeseniorsdigest.ca\/wp_activeseniorsdigest\/?p=412#primaryimage"},"datePublished":"2015-07-17T18:56:59+00:00","dateModified":"2015-07-17T18:56:59+00:00","author":{"@id":"http:\/\/activeseniorsdigest.ca\/wp_activeseniorsdigest\/#\/schema\/person\/0afb1f9f2b1987c4466bd36c4ecf6e6e"},"breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/activeseniorsdigest.ca\/wp_activeseniorsdigest\/?p=412#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-CA","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/activeseniorsdigest.ca\/wp_activeseniorsdigest\/?p=412"]}]},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/activeseniorsdigest.ca\/wp_activeseniorsdigest\/?p=412#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"http:\/\/activeseniorsdigest.ca\/wp_activeseniorsdigest\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"Family of athletes behind Pan Am torchbearer"}]},{"@type":"Person","@id":"http:\/\/activeseniorsdigest.ca\/wp_activeseniorsdigest\/#\/schema\/person\/0afb1f9f2b1987c4466bd36c4ecf6e6e","name":"active","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","@id":"http:\/\/activeseniorsdigest.ca\/wp_activeseniorsdigest\/#personlogo","inLanguage":"en-CA","url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/6943e03346fb73ef2c47ed71cc41f7a5?s=96&d=mm&r=g","contentUrl":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/6943e03346fb73ef2c47ed71cc41f7a5?s=96&d=mm&r=g","caption":"active"},"url":"https:\/\/activeseniorsdigest.ca\/wp_activeseniorsdigest\/?author=1"}]}},"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/activeseniorsdigest.ca\/wp_activeseniorsdigest\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/07\/feature_panam.jpg","jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p78TCb-6E","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/activeseniorsdigest.ca\/wp_activeseniorsdigest\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/412"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/activeseniorsdigest.ca\/wp_activeseniorsdigest\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/activeseniorsdigest.ca\/wp_activeseniorsdigest\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/activeseniorsdigest.ca\/wp_activeseniorsdigest\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/activeseniorsdigest.ca\/wp_activeseniorsdigest\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=412"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/activeseniorsdigest.ca\/wp_activeseniorsdigest\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/412\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":417,"href":"https:\/\/activeseniorsdigest.ca\/wp_activeseniorsdigest\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/412\/revisions\/417"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/activeseniorsdigest.ca\/wp_activeseniorsdigest\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/413"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/activeseniorsdigest.ca\/wp_activeseniorsdigest\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=412"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/activeseniorsdigest.ca\/wp_activeseniorsdigest\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=412"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/activeseniorsdigest.ca\/wp_activeseniorsdigest\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=412"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}