KENORA - For Olympic hopeful, Gabe Mastromatteo, the closing of the Kenora Recreational Faculty meant he would have to move to Toronto to continue his training for the 2021 Summer Olympics.
The move to Toronto turned out to be costly for the young athlete. Like most athletes, finding a designated space to train during the pandemic was difficult. At times, Mastromatteo had to travel up to two hours to find a facility that would be open to taking him.
“The best decision for him was to move back to Kenora,” said Hyslop. “He has been swimming with the club for his entire life and representing the Kenora Swimming Sharks for that entire period.”
During the high of the pandemic, the City of Kenora, as Hyslop states, allowed the Kenora Recreational Facility to remain staffed so that when the pandemic was done, the facility wouldn’t be affected by the lack of maintenance.
“The decision was to come back to Kenora with the hopes that we would be able to continue to train in our garage, which wouldn’t be enough for an Olympian-targeted gold swimmer to be able to make the Olympics,” said Hyslop to the council. “Because the city decided to keep the facility running, or open in the sense they were providing the up-keep of the facility, the maintenance staff was provided, I’d approached Crystal Stokes and Josh Nelson, to see whether or not we could allow Gabe to continue to train here in our home town in order for him to reach that goal.”
The city allowed Mastromatteo to continue his training.
However, the cost of recreational faculty wasn’t free, and Hyslop and Mastromatteo were billed for the time they spend using the building.
Being a potential Olympic athlete, the government of Ontario was able to provide $500 to supplement the cost, but that amount would be enough to cover the cost.
Because of the pandemic, the Kenora Swimming Shark organization struggled to stay above water. Moreover, fundraising for the cost of Mastromatteo training at the facility wasn’t possible.
“My request for the deposition is to have council help support by offsetting the cost, which is an individual cost for Gabe, and for myself, and for my family of $2,444, or to wave that fee,” pleaded Hyslop. “We, of course, understand that the city has bills to pay and things to do, but, at this time, it would be an amazing opportunity to celebrate a local athlete who persevered in such difficult times.”
Although Mastromatteo didn’t win the Olympic gold, he was the first Canadian swimming athlete in Northwestern Ontario to compete in the Summer Olympics.
Hyslop’s request couldn’t come at the worst time as the city prepares to go into their lame duck period for the 2022 municipal election. Once in the lame duck, the council won’t be able to allocate the funds until after the election and the new council takes office.
“We’ll have to discuss it,” commented Kenora Mayor Dan Reynard. “The reality is a unique situation. It was the Olympics. There was no facility available. It’s a unique situation. I know how I feel about it and I think it’s important to continue to support it, but we’ll make that decision. It’s not a significant request. It’s like any deposition that comes to council. Staff will review and gives us options and we’ll move from there.”
