Olympic medalist and Kelowna native Kelsey Serwa is being inducted into the BC Sports Hall of Fame (BCSHF) Class of 2023.
She is one of Canada’s most decorated freestyle skiers of all time, winning gold in ski cross at the 2018 Winter Olympics in Pyeongchang and silver in 2014 in Sochi. She currently stands as one of only two ski cross athletes in the world to win multiple Olympic medals. The other is fellow BCSHF member Marielle Thompson.
Serwa has also won three Winter X Games medals in her career, two golds, and a bronze. She has eight career victories on the FIS World Cup tour and 20 podium finishes and was a member of the Canadian national freestyle skiing team from 2009 to 2019.
Also going to the BCSHF is the 2012 Penticton Vees of the BC Hockey League (BCHL). They won the 2012 RBC Cup (now the Centennial Cup) as national Junior A hockey champions beating the Woodstock Slammers 4-3 in the final in Humboldt, Saskatchewan. Penticton finished the BCHL regular season with a 54-4-0-2 win-loss record, setting records for most wins (54), points (110), and winning percentage (.917). The team also set a Canadian Junior Hockey League record for most consecutive regular season wins with 42 straight victories.
The team included former Vancouver Canuck Troy Stecher, who played with the NHL squad from 2016 to 2020 before being traded to the Detroit Red Wings.
2012 Penticton Vees BC Hockey League Team. (Photo/BC Sports Hall of Fame)
Other notable inductees include Liberal MP Carla Qualtrough. As an athlete, she represented Canada in swimming at two Paralympic Games (Seoul 1988, Barcelona 1992) winning three bronze medals. She is the first Paralympic athlete elected to Parliament and served as Minister of Sport and Persons with Disabilities from 2015 to 2017.
Carla Qualtrough, Member of Parliament for Delta, Minister of Employment, Workforce Development and Disability Inclusion. (Photo/BC Sports Hall of Fame)
“After months of anticipation, we’re energized to begin telling the stories and marking the outstanding achievements of our Class of 2023,” said Tom Mayenknecht, chair of the BCSHF. “Honouring the past and inspiring the future is at the very heart of the mission of the BC Sports Hall of Fame and this year’s honourees truly exemplify the best of sport in this province and beyond.”
The formal Induction gala for the Class of 2023 is scheduled for June next year. The full list of inductees is available on the BCSHF website.
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