Science grad Lynda Murch draws Olympic hopefuls to Calgary
With her honours biology degree in hand, Lynda moved to Alberta and spent several years working as a laboratory technologist with the Canadian Blood Transfusion Services.
After acquiring her certification in immunohematology, Lynda worked for two different hospital labs in Calgary and then spent some time working directly for physicians coordinating clinical drug trials.
In the late 80s, Lynda's career path took her in a completely new direction. She became involved with the 1988 Calgary Olympic Winter Games by volunteering with the speed skating sport committee.
Calgary's Olympic Oval venue was so popular during the Olympics, it quickly became the destination of choice on the International Skating Union's annual circuit for both World Cup and World Championship events, she says.
After the Calgary Olympics, a core group of volunteers decided to continue to bid for major international competitions.
I volunteered with them for several years and eventually was asked to take a contract with the Organizing Committee. This has grown over the past 10 years to be a challenging and exciting career in event management, Lynda says.
Our bids have been successful and, in the past 21 years, the Committee has been awarded over 24 World Cup and World Championship events.
Currently, Lynda is the event manager for the 2009 World Cup of Speed Skating in Calgary. This event, held on December 4, 5 and 6, is the largest long track World Cup ever been held in Canada.
Many countries hoping to go to the Vancouver Olympics are trying to qualify their skaters, Lynda says. There is a lot of media attention and CBC is broadcasting Sunday afternoon's racing live.
Lynda enjoys planning these events from start to finish.
Taking projects from bids and early plans right through to the presentation of a very successful and elite sporting event has been very gratifying, she says.
Each season the competitions present us with a unique set of circumstances and challenges — there are always new and different concerns to control.
Though she graduated with a science degree, Lynda believes Waterloo prepared her well for a career in event management.
Waterloo gave me to the confidence to be an independent thinker and to strive for the best I could be, she says. The many labs and reports I completed in science taught me about the importance of accuracy and detail, which are key components in planning elite international athletic events.
Lynda says that in addition to the more well-known Canadian skaters like Clara Hughes and Jeremy Wotherspoon, there are several Canadian Olympic medal hopefuls, such as Kristina Groves, Christine Nesbit and Denny Morrison, to keep our eyes on.
The Canadian speed skating team is one of the strongest in the world, she says. We have more Canadian skaters who qualify for the Olympics than there are spots on our Olympic team.
So what is on tap next for this event planner extraordinaire?
The next major international speed skating event will be the World All-round Championships in February of 2011, Lynda says.
For this event, I am considering playing more of a consulting role and passing along the knowledge that I have gathered over the past 21 years.