
Coldwater native takes on record-breaking trek across Canada for cancer
Ben Sweet is looking to raise money for cancer by cycling across Canada in record time.
Last fall, Ben Sweet didn't just win the 24-hour North American Championship for Ultra Distance, he did it in record time.
Now, the Coldwater area native is looking to raise money for cancer by cycling across Canada.
Sweet says he can travel the 5,800 kilometers across the county in eleven days, that time would be almost three days faster than the existing record.
He hopes to raise 30,000 dollars for the Canadian Cancer Society in honor of his big trek. His inspiration is fueled by his hero Terry Fox.
Sweet says he's trained hard for this journey that could take a big toll on his body.
'The 16 to 18 hours I'm going to spend on the bike a day is going to be roughly 15,000 calories a day just to try and break even, and even that is probably not going to be enough in the long term, so yes it's a massive challenge that I've really been looking forward to take on," says Sweet.
Sweet plans on leaving for the big bike ride in mid-July. He plans on starting in Vancouver and finishing up in Halifax.
Hashtags

Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles

CBC
an hour ago
- CBC
Watch Canada's Aaron Brown compete at Diamond League Stockholm
2025 World Athletics Wanda Diamond League: Stockholm Live in 1 day Social Sharing Click on the video player above beginning on Sunday at 12 p.m. ET to watch live action from the Diamond League track and field meet in Stockholm, Sweden. Canada's Aaron Brown competes on Sunday at the Diamond League circuit's latest stop, the BAUHAUS-galan in Stockholm. It's the second Diamond League men's 200m race this week for the Toronto sprinter after he posted a sixth-place finish in 20.35 seconds at Thursday's event in Oslo. Sunday's men's 200m also includes Liberia's Joseph Fahnbulleh, the sixth-ranked sprinter in the distance, and is scheduled for 12:13 p.m. ET. Here are some of the other key events to watch at the event in Sweden's capital, which begins on Sunday at 12 p.m. ET on and CBC Gem. Women's 100m This event features reigning Olympic champion and current world No. 1-ranked Julien Alfred. The Saint Lucia native will run her second 100 of the season following a 10.89 at the Bislett Games on Thursday. Sunday's race – which is slated to start at 1:42 p.m. ET – also includes Great Britain's Dina Asher-Smith, who is ranked third overall in the world. Watch all the action from Diamond League track and field events on and CBC Gem. Click here for the full broadcast schedule. WATCH | Hammer thrower Camryn Rogers on improving visibility of field events: Hammer thrower Camryn Rogers on improving visibility of field events 2 days ago Duration 9:04 The Paris 2024 Olympic champion discusses her season so far, expectations leading into worlds, and what else she hopes to accomplish in the sport. Women's 400m hurdles Dutch athlete Femke Bol headlines the field for this event, which begins at 12:04 p.m. ET. The world No. 1 in the discipline is coming off an incredible 52.46 performance at the Diamond League stop in Rabat last month, which is the second-fastest time posted this season.


CBC
2 hours ago
- CBC
Nunavut bodybuilder winning medals and hoping to lift Inuit in the process
Social Sharing Diane Marin has always been determined. From a young age, the Inuk competed in sports in high school and university before finding bodybuilding in her late twenties. "I've always had such a passion for health and fitness, especially weightlifting," Marin said. Marin, 31, was raised in Rankin Inlet and Yellowknife before moving to Alberta for school. She has a bachelor's degree in kinesiology and now is studying massage therapy. She said she found bodybuilding a couple of years ago "and fell in love with it." Preparing for a bodybuilding competition takes anywhere from 16 to 20 weeks, Marin said. That means weighing and measuring all of her food, making sure she's doing a certain amount of cardio everyday, along with specific workouts. It also means no cheat meals — Marin says she went 16 weeks without one during this last competition. "It's almost like a job," she said. She competed in Red Deer, Alta. at the end of May, coming in third in the bikini category of the competition. "I really tested myself and improved a lot," she said. 'I love pushing myself' Even in her off season the rest of the year, Marin doesn't slow down. She's still training and eating well before she throws herself into another multi-month preparation phase. "I love it. It takes a lot of discipline and determination," she said. "I love challenging myself, I love pushing myself." "I find it very satisfying when I'm capable of hitting every check mark in a book of what I need to do every day, day after day for 16 weeks." Marin's mom and her best friend also flew in to watch her compete. Both sat in the front row. Marin's mother, Rachel Aliyak, wipes away tears as she talks about her daughter. "I'm very proud of her. She's really good. I wish you could all see her," Aliyak said. She said her daughter has always been focused. "Diane was very determined. She was very helpful," Aliyak said. She said she watched in awe over the last few months as her daughter followed a strict diet and training regimen. "It was hard to say 'oh, I'm going for a large plate of fries or a pizza,'" Aliyak said. This was also her first time watching the competition in-person. "There's a lot of muscle. A lot of muscular people in one room," she said. "You can't be shy to do this kind of event … but it also shows how much work these athletes put into it." Marin said she hopes other young Inuit get excited about working out and living a healthy lifestyle. "Just try your best, have fun doing it. Work out, get moving and enjoy what you do," Marin said. "Only good things come from health and fitness. You feel better, you have better days." Marin said she's seen few Indigenous athletes compete in bodybuilding, let alone Inuit. "I don't know any Inuit other than me who's a bodybuilder," she said. "With these Inuit genetics, you can build muscle really quick. We're pretty strong." And for her post-competition meal?

CBC
2 hours ago
- CBC
What happens when athletes' dreams of going pro are crushed? Filmmaker studying UVic team aims to find out
Raymond Dimmitt arrived in B.C. in 2019 with big dreams. Having just turned 18, he'd moved away from the United Arab Emirates, where he grew up, to Vancouver Island. He was poised to study at the University of Victoria, an eager freshman with a history of playing high level basketball back home. He planned to play for the University of Victoria's men's basketball team, where he figured he'd train and prepare for a career with the national team in Thailand, where he was born. But Dimmitt said he was "quickly humbled" when he didn't make the team. "It was a very eye-opening experience to realize how much better the level of basketball is here in Canada," he said. "It was hard for me that I had to go back to the drawing board and figure out what I'm going to do with my life." Now, five years later, with a degree in philosophy and environmental studies and some film directing credits on his resume, Dimmitts is using his lived experience to make a documentary about the fallout when athletes, in particular, find out life might not work out the way they'd planned. "My focus in school was philosophy, and I feel like now it's my chance to kind of tell the story that's not being told enough in this existential nature of what it means to be an athlete," he said. Dimmitt and a small film crew will follow the University of Victoria men's soccer team for the next two seasons, culminating in their journey to the U Sports Men's Soccer Championship in 2027, which the university is hosting. "Soccer especially, it is an incredibly challenging sport to make it professional," Dimmitt said. Dimmitt made it clear he doesn't want or expect the team to fail but, according to the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA), very few student athletes go on to professional sports careers. "I think some of them will have to grapple with this nature, that this reality may not be in the books for them, but also some will," he said. "But maybe in this process, if we succeed properly, we're able to exemplify how it's OK for the next generation of athletes to watch this and be feeling a little bit less worried about a future that doesn't involve sport." Coming to terms with that reality is completely normal, according to performance psychology consultant Roger Friesen. Friesen, who works with some of Canada's top athletes, including national teams qualifying for the Olympics, said how people react and come to terms with that feeling varies. "Disappointment and confusion is probably going to be a very real thing," he said from his home on B.C.'s Quadra Island. "Often people's identities are wrapped up in that dream." Universal experience It's something that can be applied to anything in life, Friesen said: sports, music, getting a certain job, having a family, living a certain way — life doesn't always work out the way we plan. Learning how to be "mentally robust" and manage change are important parts of what he does when working with athletes. Friesen said course correction is another area he focuses on. When one thing doesn't work out, such as athletics, for example, it's important to know what our other abilities and interests are to help us move forward, he said. It's that common experience of coming to terms with not succeeding in the way we had planned that Dimmitt hopes will get people watching the film and talking about it. "If this isn't the most relatable topic, I don't know what it is," he said. Dimmitt said he doesn't yet know when the film will be finished, but that he hopes people who view it feel seen. "If someone in the audience watching, whether an ex-athlete or an ex-musician who wanted to go pro or be very famous or whatever, if they're able to watch this documentary and feel a little bit more understood that a dream they once had was not able to fulfill itself, and that's OK, if you're seen through it, I'd be on top of the world."