The Board of the Greater Victoria Sports Hall of Fame announced that five athletes, one team, one coach and one builder will be inducted into the Hall of Fame this year.

“The annual inductee dinner is planned for October 29 at which we will formally induct these great champions who are truly worthy of recognition and inclusion among their peers into our Hall of Fame,” said Doug Jennings, president of the Greater Victoria Sports Hall of Fame.

In the athlete category, Dave Kirzinger (football), Brenda Shields Hennigar (speed skating), Gerry Poulton (squash), Gary Reed (athletics) and Jim Rutledge (golf) are being inducted.

In the team category, the iconic rowing pair of Lindsay Jennerich and Patricia Obee won World Championships silver in 2011 and 2014 and World Cup gold in 2016. They represented Canada at the 2012 London Olympic Games and brought home a silver medal at the 2016 Rio Olympic Games.

Triathlon’s Lance Watson has coached athletes to five Olympics and over 50 World Championships. Lance was National Coach for Canadian teams winning Gold at the Olympics, Commonwealth Games and Pan American Games. In 2000, his athlete, Simon Whitfield, won gold in Sydney; and, his athlete, Lisa Bentley, won the first of her 11 Ironman victories.

Richard Way, inducted into the builder category, is a well-known name across Canada as the co-creator of the Long-Term Athlete Development (LTAD) Framework, which pioneered a generational change in the in the sport system evolving how athletes are developed. Way facilitated the use of the LTAD across 60 sports in more than 100 countries and is Chief Executive Officer for the Sport for Life Society which was awarded the Canadian Medical Association’s national Award for Excellence in Health Promotion.

“The selection process is always difficult as there are so many outstanding people in the Victoria sports community,” said Lois Smith, chair of the Induction Nominations Committee. “I commend the committee members for their diligence in producing such a stellar slate.”

The inductees will be honoured at an in-person event on October 29, 2022, while a visual representation of this group of inductees will be added to the physical Greater Victoria Sports Hall of Fame display at the Save-on-Foods Memorial Centre concourse. Tickets for the Induction Dinner & Ceremony will be available on the website gvshof.ca from May 1st.

The 2021 inductees were: Matt Pettinger (Ice Hockey) and Gwen Spencer Hethey (Shooting), Peter Lawless (coach) and Roger Skillings (Builder).

Over 220 athletes, teams, coaches, officials, builders, and media personalities have been inducted into the Greater Victoria Sports Hall of Fame since 1991.

Read the full news release HERE.