Mathea STEVENS

Date of Birth (y/m/d): 1991/09/28 Height: 5ft 11 in Hometown: Rockland, ON City of birth: Ottawa, ON Residence: Rockland, ON National Development team member since: 2008 Personal best (year & location): 33rd Medway World Cup Head Coach National Team: John Hawes Riding Coach: Paul Popiel Swim & shoot Coach: John Hawes Fencing Coach: Paul Apsimon Run Coach: Ken Parker

Interview

Why you love the sport of pentathlon?
Pentathlon allows for so much variety. I don’t have to work on one thing all the time. You can never get bored training with five different sports.

When you got involved in pentathlon and why?
Like many pentathletes, I started with riding and Pony Club. Through Pony Club I began competing in Tetrathlon, which is swimming, running, riding and shooting. Through tetrathlon I met John Hawes (Canadian National Team Coach) who convinced me to try pentathlon.

How often do you train?
I train about 25 hours a week with on average 3 practices per day.

Of the five sports of pentathlon (fencing, swimming, equestrian, shooting and running), which do you consider your best?
I would consider my strongest event horse-back riding. Before starting pentathlon I used to compete in eventing—w hich consist of dressage, stadium jumping and cross country jumping. Coming from a riding background, the riding in pentathlon is a fun challenge.

What are your hobbies?
I enjoy watching movies, baking and riding my horse. Shopping is fun too!

Do you participate in other sports?
Before training in pentathlon I used to play volleyball competitively. Unfortunately, I had to quit playing to make time for pentathlon training.

Are there any other athletes in your family?
My younger brother Jon swims with a swim club and my brother Garnett used to compete in pentathlon.

Education?
I finished high school and certificates in the International Baccalaureate Program and am in second year at Ottawa University in business management.

What career would you like to pursue or are you currently pursuing?
There are many different fields I would enjoy working in, so I’ll continue my education while I decide.

Language(s) spoken:
English and French

Future goals (in sport & or work)?
In pentathlon: I’d like to see how far my career can take me. I am looking towards competing at World Cup Final and qualifying for finals at Senior World Chapionships in the years to come.

What is the greatest challenge you have faced?
It seems as though I’m always faced with a new bottleneck in training and competing. The all-time greatest challenge would have to be scheduling all my training sessions in a way that allows me to get to sleep at a decent time at night, or avoiding early morning practices. Getting enough sleep to recover from practice is difficult.

My best fan is my _______________(because)?
My best fan would have to be my Mom. No matter how I do at a competition she will understand and support me. Whenever I lose focus on training or get discouraged—she is there to get me back on track.

In the moments when I doubt that I want to continue, how do I motivate myself?
To motivate myself, I think of how disappointed I’ll be when I get to a competition and didn’t do well. If you only put in half of what you’re capable of, then you can’t expect yourself to compete at your greatest ability.

Also, if I don’t do everything that I possibly can with regards to preparing myself for a competition, then whatever training I did do won’t be as effective. I think “If I struggled through track practice last night, I don’t want it to go to waste because I didn’t stretch and do my exercises afterwards”.

How has being an athlete benefited you (positive effects in your life that you would not have had otherwise)?
Without pentathlon I would never understand how much I, or anyone, is capable of doing. Being an athlete has taught me the importance of time management and how much one can actually accomplish in one day.

Favourite song & or band?
At the moment it would have to be Secret & Whisper (thanks to Josh!)

Best movie I have ever seen is?
The Godfather series,and of course Step Brothers.

If I were an animal, I would be a ________ (because)?
Pandas have a pretty sweet life; I would be alright with munching on bamboo all day!

Competition History

If media want to contact Mathea Stevens, they can reach her at:
mathea.64@hotmail.com

Photos of Mathea that media can use for editorial purposes are available by emailing:
mathea.64@hotmail.com

For further information on pentathlon or media requests contact Aline Lafreniere at:
alineml@sympatico.ca