Canadian Suzanne Weckend-Dill appointed Commonwealth Games Federation Athlete Representative

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

ST. KITTS & NEVIS (November 12, 2011) – One of Canada's most promising young sport leaders has been appointed to the Executive Board of the Commonwealth Games Federation (CGF) as the Athlete Representative.

Suzanne Weckend-Dill (Vancouver, BC), a two-time Commonwealth Games athlete and member of the Commonwealth Games Canada (CGC) Board of Directors, was appointed today to a four-year term.

Weckend-Dill joins Bruce Robertson (Ottawa, ON) on the CGF's Executive Board. Robertson was re-elected yesterday to a third four-year term as a Federation Vice-President. With his re-election, Robertson will continue to serve as Chair of the Federation's Co-ordination Commission for the 2014 Commonwealth Games in Glasgow and Chair of the CGF's Marketing Committee.

"I'm so honoured and excited about the opportunity to serve as the voice for athletes from the 71 Commonwealth nations and territories," said Weckend-Dill from the CGF General Assembly in St. Kitts & Nevis. "My hope is to continue the work already underway in several key areas: increasing athlete engagement within Commonwealth Games Associations, fostering open communication, providing Games services that support athlete performance, and assisting with Games planning and organizational oversight."

Weckend-Dill, who also sits on the Board of Directors for Athletes CAN, is the second Canadian to hold the prestigious CGF position. In 2003, Commonwealth Games silver medalist, Trevino Betty (Toronto, ON), was appointed as the first-ever Athlete Representative.

"Suzanne will represent Commonwealth athletes with passion, commitment and creativity, " added Dr. Andrew Pipe, President of Commonwealth Games Canada, and head of the Canadian delegation at the CGF General Assembly. "She is doing great work for Canadian sport and now the international community will benefit as well."

As a high performance athlete, Weckend-Dill competed twice at the Commonwealth Games – in two different sports. She represented Canada at the 1994 Games in Victoria, BC in Swimming. Twelve years later, she wore the red and white for Team Canada in Triathlon at the 2006 Commonwealth Games in Melbourne, Australia.

Professionally, Weckend-Dill is the Head of Senior School Athletics and Director of Aquatics at St. George's School in Vancouver, B.C.

About Commonwealth Games Canada

Commonwealth Games Canada (CGC) is the international franchise holder for the Commonwealth Games and Commonwealth movement in Canada, and an active, contributing member of the Canadian sport community. The mission of Commonwealth Games Canada is to strengthen sport within Canada and throughout the Commonwealth, by participating in the Commonwealth Games and by using sport as a development tool.

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For more information, please contact:

Derek Johnston
Commonwealth Games Canada Communications
(613) 794-1876
media@commonwealthgames.ca
www.commonwealthgames.ca