Bobsleigh squad looks at life after Olympics

VANCOUVER — They are all experts in basic mathematics.

Three world-class Canadian bobsled pushers who realize the implications of having two medal contending drivers for the 2010 Olympics. A third driver who understands the agonizing arithmetic of beating out two of Germany, the U.S. and Switzerland to qualify a third sled for the Games.

But as crushing as missing out on a podium shot — or the Games entirely — will be, there is solace for all in life after sport.

Forget basic math. This is a smart bunch of bobbers.

"I know whatever happens with the Games, whether I go or I don't go, it's going to take me in a different direction," said Heather Moyse of Summerside, P.E.I., who has her master's degree in occupational therapy from the University of Toronto.

Moyse pushed Canada 1 pilot Helen Upperton to a fourth-place finish at the 2006 Olympics in Turin, yet there's little security for her in that result.

In part, it's because Moyse went back to school after Turin and opened the door for Edmonton's Jenny Ciochetti to serve as Upperton's brakeman. That pair won two World Cup races in 2007-08 and finished fourth at the world championships, a feat they repeated last season.

"I just thought I'd try bobsled for a year and that would be it," said Moyse, 31. "Then we did so well and everyone was like, 'Are you really going back to finish school?' "

"Now that I'm more in the limelight, especially back home, I never want to send the message that education is not important," she added.

"There are areas I'm really interested in working in, like neuro rehab, post-stroke, or with children with developmental and physical disabilities. Combining that with my love of sport somehow."

Moyse has also enjoyed success with Canada 2 pilot Kaillie Humphries, but so has brakeman Shelley-Ann Brown of Scarborough, Ont., so the picture is no clearer there.

Brown, 29, has her master's in educational psychology from the University of Nebraska, where she studied on a track scholarship. She finished both her degrees before getting into a sled.

"I have lots of thoughts," Brown said about life after sport. "I'll definitely continue working with children, probably teaching."

If Canada qualifies a third sled for the Games, at least Moyse, Ciochetti and Brown will all have a chance to compete in an Olympics on home soil — though, realistically, only Canada 1 and Canada 2 will push for the podium.

Seattle-raised Amanda Moreley, who has plenty of relatives in her mother's hometown of Surrey, B.C., will pilot Canada 3 when the World Cup season starts this coming week in Park City, Utah.

Moreley, 28, has been great friends with Brown since the two competed in track and field together for Nebraska — Moreley winning a Big 12 hammer throw title. She's also halfway through her master's in Chinese medicine.

"We're a smart bunch, I love it," said Moreley, who's done a little acupuncture on Brown, though Brown has resisted the oil of oregano treatments. "We compete hard and we train hard, but there's some good conversations, too.

"I've always lived a holistic lifestyle, . . . yoga, meditation, and it's been great to bring that into the athletic sector and have that balance. I've had to shut down the practitioner side for now, though."

Even Canada's supporting cast has impressive intellectual capacity. One of the newest team members, Veronique Fortin of Gatineau, Que., has a master's in political science from the University of Sherbrooke and works as an trade policy adviser for Transport Canada.

She wants to work for the United Nations.

Heather Patterson was a four-time Academic all-Canadian track and field athlete at the University of Western Ontario and has her nursing degree.

"We're definitely smarter than the boys, let's get serious," quipped Brown.

Smart enough to know that there's life after the Olympics.

Vancouver Province

mweber@theprovince.com