KELOWNA — He came from one of the most athletic families in the Okanagan and possibly the country, and now Greg Athans will be inducted into the Canadian Sports Hall of Fame.
The Athans family is well known in the sporting community, with numerous national and world titles bearing their name.
Greg, who died in 2006 due to complications with diabetes, held four world championships for freestyle skiing, two world championships for moguls, 20 World Cup titles and 15 national water ski championships.
His mother Irene and other family members will be in Ottawa to take part in the induction ceremony.
Irene said Greg was also ranked third in the world in waterskiing at one point, his sport of choice between 1976 and 1982.
Greg, along with brothers George and Gary, all reached the upper echelon of the sporting world as they followed in the footsteps of their parents.
Their father, Dr. George Athans, was a British Empire Games champion and Canadian champion in diving. He competed at the Commonwealth Games and represented Canada at two Olympics.
In both synchronized swimming and breaststroke, Irene was a world-class athlete in her own right. She once held a share of a world records in relay swimming.
George, the eldest of the three sons, became a national waterski champion at 13, and went on to win three world waterski titles and induction to the Order of Canada and Canada’s Sports Hall of Fame.
Gary was a junior Canadian champion in the water and on the snow at age 15.
He was selected to represent Canada internationally in both sports, but opted to skiing downhill for Canada for the next eight years, including representing his country at the 1984 Winter Olympics in Sarajevo, then in Yugoslavia.
Gary still lives in Kelowna and works as a real-estate agent.
Greg’s daughters, Carly and Zoe will be at the induction ceremony this week.