LIFE AFTER THE NFB Part 2 of an interview with Guy Maguire, webmaster and cross-country skier

by Marie-Pierre Tremblay
December 2003

Guy Maguire has just put his bike away and taken out his cross-country skis, which doesn't mean to say he will neglect diving, a sport he follows on a daily basis.

Discovery of a difficult discipline: diving
It is fascinating to watch diving on TV during the Olympic Games. And when a dive seems perfectly executed, we are sometimes surprised at the ridiculously low points handed out to the athlete. For more information about what happens during the three seconds between jump from the diving board and entry into the water, please consult www.geocities.com/guymaguirewww. You'll find dozens of articles about diving, rules, ratings and CAMO (Club aquatique de Montr�al). And there are pages on Alexandre Despatie and �milie Heymans, two very talented divers, both gold medallists.

"Elise, my daughter, is the one who got me interested in diving. She was involved in figure skating, gymnastics, and swimming at the pool down the street. She was very good. One day, an instructor told her she should join CAMO. She did but because she doesn't have "East German" shoulders, even though she is incredibly flexible, they suggested she try diving. So for four years she concentrated on diving. She later taught at CAMO and at the Universit� de Montr�al's CEPSUM. And she coached kids at many outdoor pools.

"L'Agence Maguire"
"One thing led to another and I found myself offering to create a website for CAMO. It was exciting because that is where three quarters of the athletes on the Canadian team do their training. And there are many children at the club who dream of becoming champions. It is a lively milieu, with some 200 "students" at all levels. And a dozen or so of international calibre, like Alexandre and �milie. French websites are exceedingly rare. Diving is not a sport which is financially rewarding, so newspapers don't bother much with local or even national competitions. Apart from the World Championships or the Olympic Games, there's not much coverage of diving. I have my own network of people who send me the results just hours after the competitions. People from Mexico, England, the United States visit the site, and many send me e-mails and encourage me to continue.

Best of all, the parents are so great! When their kids phone them from the far ends of the earth, from China, Russia, Spain, the parents contact me immediately and let me know about their victories. This means that I get the news before the big news agencies. The telephone is faster than press releases. I have made a lot of friends in the milieu. What is extraordinary is that everyone gets along famously, and the adults are extremely supportive of the kids, whether they are their own children or not. It is a far cry from what goes on at the skating rinks. And my work is really appreciated ! I was even nominated for "volunteer of the year" for the metropolitan region. There is "athlete of the year", "coach of the year", etc. I didn't win because there are people who devote 20 or 30 years to their sport, but I was very pleased just the same."

Cross-country skiing - another passion
"Cross-country skiing is a necessity in my life. I have done a lot of downhill skiing, but now I'm more interested in the longer treks. I put on my skis and take off as often as I can. When I get back, I read or I work on my websites : athlete's sites, like those of Dasha Ga�azova, Beckie Scott or Milaine Th�riault, files on other skiers, but also general-interest sites - news of the week, competitions, races and long tours, equipment and technique, purchase and upkeep of skis, trail conditions, how to get into shape, where to ski... Roger Laroche, the well known journalist from Radio-Canada, who runs the best site on downhill skiing in Quebec, has a cross-crountry skiing link at the top of his home page that directs people to my site.

In short, I ask myself what skiers are interested in ? I structure and organize my information in such a way that there's an 80% chance that you will find my site when you search for "ski de fond" (cross-country skiing) with any search engine (Google, Alta Vista, Yahoo). Try it, you'll see!

Like diving, cross-country skiing rarely makes the front of the sports section of the daily newspapers, but the athletes are just as charming and friendly. Dasha (Ga�azova) is the new darling of cross-country ski fans. She was born near Moscow, is not yet 20 and arrived in Montreal with her parents in February 1999. She became a Canadian citizen in September 2002 and has learned French! When she talks French, she sounds adorable !

When I discovered that Beckie Scott didn't have her own Website - and she is our national pride, who distinguished herself at the Olympic Games in Salt Lake City - I decided to create a site for her. I found plenty of information at the Radio-Canada Sports site (a world-class reference for the quality and preservation of data).

So Beckie now has her own site, but it's entirely in French. There is no English site! Milaine Th�riault, who is from St. Quentin, New Brunswick, is almost Qu�b�coise ! So I keep her site up to date to share the good new with her fans.

Guy's enthusiasm and fire are still as infectious as ever ! Have a great season, Guy.

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(1) Guy Maguire joined the NFB in 1967. He consecutively held the positions of Representative in Sherbrooke, Regional Director for Quebec, Chief of French Marketing and Assistant Director, Distribution. He then became Director of Programming (production and distribution outside of Quebec) and Assistant Director general Distribution (French program). He retired in 2001.

(2) Please refer to Part 1 of this article in the June issue of the newsletter.

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photos : Louis Panneton-Maguire