For two of Oakville’s rising stars, it’s been an August that they will likely never forget.
We spoke to Hollie Naughton and Riley Flemington in the weeks leading up to their participation at the Commonwealth Games and the World Athletics Under 20 Championships. Both athletes stepped up to their respective challenges and left their marks on the competitions.
For the first time, a Canadian woman won a medal in squash at the Commonwealth Games, and Oakville’s Hollie Naughton was lucky enough to share the glory with her family and friends in Birmingham. She now makes her home in England to get a competitive edge. While she’s originally from Leeds, England, her family moved to Oakville when she was ten, and she honed her skills here before shipping out to join the professional squash tour after high school.
Taking the giant leap has paid off as her performance at the Commonwealth Games had her selected for the prestigious honour of being the Flag Barrer at the Closing Ceremonies.
“It was one hell of a week; I’m still trying to process it.” Hollie beams, saying, “I don’t think that I’d realized the magnitude of it, and hopefully, I can take all the positives into the season as well.”
She battled through the preliminary stages of the competition and faced off against England’s Georgina Kennedy in the final. While looking back at the final, she has a touch of regret about not enjoying the moment and getting a bit ahead of herself, but she gives full credit to her opponent.
“Obviously, playing Gina in the final, she’s no walkover; it’s not like I’m going to go in there and win 3-0 in under 20 minutes.” continuing, “I knew it would be tough, and I just wasn’t tough enough unfortunately on the day.”
While she may not be satisfied with her result, her performance caught the attention of Canada’s Chef de Mission, who selected her to be Canada's Flag Bearer at the Closing Ceremonies. It was very much a surprise to her when she received the news.
To Hollie, it was inconceivable she would be selected; when the coach put her name forward, she laughed it off, telling him, “they will never choose me. Thank you, but that’s not going to happen.”
She was eventually selected and got to experience something that very few people ever will, “It was a goosebump moment, waiting to go out I was like ‘Oh my goodness!’”
Following the games, Hollie jetted off to the Balearic Islands of Majorca, Spain. She will rest and recuperate before the Professional Squash Association season begins in September, when she will again play at the foot of the Great Pyramid of Giza.
Riley Flemington found himself on the medal podium in Cali, Colombia, via a different route than he’d expected.
After a disappointing run in the 800m heats, he was eliminated from the competition. He got “boxed in” by his competitors and could not navigate a “technical” race, where his fellow runners kept the pace slower than usual.
As the saying goes, when one door closes, another one opens. The Canadian coaches approached him following his race and asked him to join the 4x400m team. He helped the team finish second in their heat and qualify for the final.
Eventually, the coaches decided to replace Riley in the final race, but he still was able to take the podium for the medal presentation. He rejoices over his experience in Cali, “it was awesome being in front of the crowd getting presented with a medal on the world stage like that. It’s second to none.”
On Monday, Riley will return from a celebratory trip to the Bahamas. Then he’ll waste no time before heading off to begin his collegiate career at the University of Michigan, where he’ll spend the fall training with the Cross Country team ahead of the indoor track season.