The Mark Lowry Memorial Sport Excellence Fund

“If we, as a country, wish to maintain a competitive edge in the world of amateur sport,
we must do what it takes to allow our athletes to have the very best
in all aspects of their training.” (Mark Lowry)

The Mark Lowry Memorial Sport Excellence Fund was established by his family as a tribute to Mark Lowry, the Canadian Olympic Committee's Executive Director of Sport, who passed away on October 22, 2005. Our goal is to continue Mark's dedication to the Canadian Olympic movement by providing donations towards the development of key high-performance initiatives.

The first Mark Lowry Memorial Sport Excellence grant was given in 2006/07 to Rowing Canada Aviron. Rowing Canada Aviron used the funding towards the set-up and maintenance of the Mark Lowry Ergometer Centre, an indoor training facility in Victoria, B.C., which provides national team athletes and coaches access to a suitable indoor training facility to allow them to continue to train at an optimum level during the winter months.

Mark Lowry Ergometer Centre

The 2007/08 grant was provided to Dive Calgary to establish the Mark Lowry Portable Dryland Training Area and has added much-needed dry-boards, trampolines, mats and resistance-training equipment to the training space currently on-site for some of Canada’s top divers at the Talisman Centre in Calgary.

Mark Lowry Portable Dryland Training Area

The 2008/09 grant of $31,500 was been provided to Canoe/Kayak Canada to augment a training facility located in Ottawa, ON at the Rideau Canoe Club.

The Mark Lowry Fund provided support to purchase kayak and canoe ergometers, strength training equipment, a new national team motor boat and motor and a high definition video camera.

Rideau Canoe Club Commodore Hector Carranco accepted the cheque on behalf of the Club and spoke about how this contribution will help the athletes and coaches at the Club to train for their various competitions.

Three Sports Are Beneficiaries of $63,900 from the Mark Lowry Memorial Sport Excellence Fund

Jennifer and Brendan Lowry are pleased to announce that the Lowry family has decided to make contributions totaling $63,900 to three separate sports in 2011. Based on discussions with the respective sports and with Own the Podium the following projects were supported:

The Canadian Curling Association (CCA) will receive $28,900 to support the Mark Lowry Sweeping Laboratory and the Mark Lowry Mobile Sweeping Laboratory. Sweeping has long been a skill that requires strength, aerobic capacity and precise body position while moving along a sheet of curling ice. This missing performance-training element has been how to measure improvement. The Mark Lowry Fund will assist in developing a unique sweeping training tool as well as a mobile laboratory that would meet the challenge of training elite curling athletes who are spread across the country. The intent following the 2014 Sochi Olympics is to market the training tool internationally and donate a percentage of sales to the Mark Lowry Memorial Sport Excellence Fund. This is the first winter sport supported by the Mark Lowry Fund.

The Canadian Cycling Association will receive $15,000 towards special equipment to assist in training disabled cyclists at their Bromont QC and Calgary AB training centers. This is the first Paralympic sport supported by the Fund. Canadian Cycling Association CEO Greg Mathieu stated: “we are thrilled to be able to go forward with this significant project due to this support and recognition of the great strides being taken with para-cycling in Canada.” To see the CCA news release click here.

Swimming Natation Canada (SNC) will receive $20,000 towards the Mark Lowry Recovery Centre which will be housed at the Vancouver National Swim Centre. The Recovery Centre will provide a designated area for athletes and service providers to offer services such as massage therapy, physiotherapy, chiropractic, nutrition and recovery protocols. In their proposal SNC stated that “to compete at the world level, Canadian swimmers need the continued support and care that is not only on par but superior to our competition. By providing a consistency of care and accessibility to recovery protocols our athletes will be receiving this support and care.”

"As a family, we are strongly committed to fulfilling Mark's dream of helping Canadian athletes reach the podium at the Olympic Games,” says Jennifer Lowry, Mark’s wife. “This is what we hope to accomplish with the money raised each year at the Drive for the Podium Golf Tournament”

The primary source of funds for the Mark Lowry Sport Excellence Fund is the Drive for the Podium Golf Tournament held in Ottawa each year. Over $150,000 has been raised by this tournament in the six years that it has been held. Funding decisions are made by the Lowry family based on recommendations from high performance sport technical experts from the Canadian Sport Review Panel and the Own the Podium program.

You can make a donation directly to the fund by sending a cheque payable to the Canadian Olympic Committee (re the Mark Lowry Sport Excellence Fund) to:

Canadian Olympic Committee
21 St. Clair Avenue E., Suite 900
Toronto, ON
M4T 1L9