Land and sea

MUN student dominates in several sports

By Samantha Smith

It has been said that if an athlete can succeed in one sport, he or she can usually succeed in many others. Such is the case for many of Memorial’s athletes, some whose names pop up more than others. Ryan Brown is an engineering student here at Memorial, and he first made waves on the MUN swim team. However, his accolades stem further into cross country running and triathlon. Since taking up the sport of swimming in Grade 9 with the St. John’s Legends swim club, Brown enjoyed the challenge the sport presented. “Swimming was a sport which I really needed to work hard at to have any success,” he said. As a child, Brown was heavily involved in hockey, until he decided to choose water over ice. From 2004 to 2007, and 2008 to 2009, Brown swam with the MUN swim team, competing in the 50 metre and 100 metre freestyle events, making the finals in the AUS Championships and medalling in the relay competitions. Brown says what drew him most to the sport was the racing. “It gets pretty exciting when you start making big swimming finals in your particular events. Swimming is an individual sport therefore the only person you can count on is yourself. You know and can feel when you have put hard work into your training and when you see results there is no better feeling.” And apparently some fish can also take to land. Brown competed on the MUN men’s cross country running team this past season, taking his athletic abilities to a new level. He was encouraged to join the team after competing in yet another sporting event – the triathlon, a sport that consists of three components: A distance swim, a distance cycle, and a distance run. He explains that he only really took to running this past summer, when he competed in several Newfoundland triathlons. “The running portion of the triathlon was the most difficult for me as I was never a runner. So still having a couple year of eligibility left with MUN I decided to give it a shot,” Brown said of joining the cross country team. In his very first triathlon, the Paradise Sprint Triathlon held in June 2009, Brown came first in the race. As the summer went on, Brown competed in three more triathlons, placing fourth in the Carbonear Sprint triathlon, first in the Corner Brook Olympic Triathlon, and third in the St. John’s Standard triathlon. “I was extremely happy with my results but they were unexpected,” he said with modesty. But, he isn’t stopping there. He plans to compete again in the approaching summer season. Brown credits his swimming background and his cross-country training with his success as a triathlete. And as an experienced member of Memorial’s Athletics, Brown encourages anyone even a little bit interested to get involved. “Even if you don’t feel like you can make the team you want to play with, give it a shot because you will never know until you try. The people you meet, the experiences you encounter, and the pleasure you have representing your university on an athletic level is something you’ll always be able to cherish and look back on.”

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