{"id":39166,"date":"2026-10-22T15:52:45","date_gmt":"2026-10-22T19:52:45","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newspapers-online.com\/auroran\/?p=39166"},"modified":"2026-10-22T15:52:47","modified_gmt":"2026-10-22T19:52:47","slug":"dan-thompson-named-athlete-of-the-year-at-sport-auroras-16th-annual-breakfast-of-champions","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newspapers-online.com\/auroran\/dan-thompson-named-athlete-of-the-year-at-sport-auroras-16th-annual-breakfast-of-champions\/","title":{"rendered":"Dan Thompson named Athlete of the Year at Sport Aurora\u2019s 16th Annual Breakfast of Champions"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Sport Aurora\u2019s 16th Annual Breakfast of Champions recognized over one hundred athletes from eight local sports organizations at Stonehaven on Sunday morning.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Most notable among the provincial, national, and international champions being recognized at the event were the accomplishments of Aurora Sports Hall of Famer, Breaststroke specialist, and ageless competitive swimmer Dan Thompson who was honored as Sport Aurora\u2019s 2026 Athlete of the Year.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Participating organizations\u2014Shaolin Martial Arts Canada, Global Gymnastics Club, York Stars Rhythmic Gymnastics Club, K.O. Club, the U13 Girls Provincial Champion Redbirds Lacrosse Club, Cavelo Martial Arts, Aurora Master Ducks, and York Artistic Swimming Club \u2013 were treated to a hot breakfast, the exemplary accomplishments and wise words of Thompson, and the compelling quest story of keynote speaker and long-distance cyclist Mark Herbst. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

In 2025, Herbst completed a grueling 30,000 kilometre circumnavigation of the globe and dedicated the eleven-month journey to his late wife, Jackie.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In her memory, Herbst raised over $67,000 for cancer research at Princess Margaret Hospital.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The national and provincial champion in cycling and triathlon acknowledged that, \u201cThe hardest part of the ride was mental.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cI\u2019d ride eight-to-twelve hours and travel 120 kilometers a day. The enormity of the task had to be broken down day-to-day, but I was inspired by people I\u2019d meet every day along the route who had told me they were suffering from cancer and appreciated my support. It motivated me because I knew I couldn\u2019t let these people down. I finished the ride in Bangkok.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The two-time Hawaii Ironman competitor offered post-event wisdom to the attendees: \u201cIt\u2019s the character you show while striving for awards that will count. You won\u2019t fail along the way unless you fail to learn. It\u2019s how you treat the people around you is what really matters. Be the best version of yourself.  Enjoy the journey.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The inspirational cyclist\u2014whose claim to be the oldest person to circumnavigate the globe on a bicycle is pending verification by the Guinness Book of World Records staff \u2013 received a round of hearty applause from attendees who were moved by his story and accomplishments.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Emcee Jim Thomson, hosting the Breakfast of Champions for the twelfth consecutive year, thanked Herbst for his inspirational tale of endurance and added a few insights from his NHL career: \u201cI\u2019ve had some highlights, too, like beating the Leafs in 1993 in the Conference Finals\u201d which elicited groans from the fans of the blue and white at the breakfast tables\u2014 \u201cbut to be a champion, you have to work at it.  Thank you, Mark, for your great story.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The amiable Thomson moved seamlessly from the keynote to set up the biggest award of the morning. The 2023 Aurora Sports Hall of Fame inductee and current owner of the Aurora Junior Tigers asked fellow Hall of Famer and Sport Aurora executive Alan Dean to introduce the Town\u2019s Athlete of the Year. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Dean, after delineating an impressive list of lifetime awards and numerous contemporary records in Masters Swimming, called Thompson to the stage to receive his award.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The eternally-youthful swimmer, who was enshrined in the Aurora Sports Hall of Fame in 2017 and set six records in the Masters 70-74 Division in 2026, expressed a degree of surprise at winning the prestigious prize.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cI\u2019m 70\u2014can I be the Athlete of the Year?\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Thompson, a model lifelong athlete who was flying to Buenos Aires after the Breakfast of Champions to compete in the Pan-Am Masters Games in Argentina, encouraged the 107 athletes to take care of themselves: \u201cThere are key pillars when you move away from being a young athlete. You really need to pay attention to three things: Diet, Sleep, and Staying Strong. When you get older, you start losing strength so you need to keep working out and maintain your strength.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

After his kindly warning about the ravages of old age, Thompson closed with a sentimental moment:  \u201cIt\u2019s truly an honor to be honored in my hometown of Aurora.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The hometown hero\u2019s words of wisdom struck a chord with the audience, as did Jim Thomson\u2019s spontaneous recognition of youngster Sebastian Bianchi who was in attendance with his father, Nunzio.  What caught the former NHLer\u2019s eye was the vintage #66 Mario Lemieux Pittsburgh Penguins jersey from the 1990s.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

It brought back memories for Thomson who was drafted by the Washington Capitals and he told the audience about a conspicuous defensive assignment he was given by his coach during his first NHL exhibition game.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cI thought I was going into the game to move some bodies and do the things that tougher players did in the NHL.  However, in my first game as a rookie with Washington, I was told that I had to cover Mario Lemieux who happened to be the greatest player in the world at the time.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

It was a poignant, off-the-cuff moment and Sebastian was invited to the stage for a photo op with Junior Tigers\u2019 leading goal scorer Max Skinner, Tigers veteran Nic Ferrante who opened the scoring on Saturday night versus the Cobourg Cougars, Tigers\u2019 rookie goaltender Lucas Carpino, and former NHLer Thomson.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

It was also suggested that the youngster would be a candidate to drop the puck at centre ice at a future Tigers game.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The Junior Tigers\u2019 connection to community was on full display at Sport Aurora\u2019s biggest event of the year and the impact on the thrilled young attendee was evident. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

The morning event was given an added element of gravitas by a pair of pipers from St. Andrew\u2019s College \u2013 Cruz Necovski and Carter Sutton\u2014whose performance emphasized the motto of Sport Aurora:  Where Sport Matters. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

By Jim Stewart
Local Journalism Initiative Reporter<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Sport Aurora\u2019s 16th Annual Breakfast of Champions recognized over one hundred athletes from eight local sports organizations at Stonehaven on Sunday morning. Most notable among the provincial, national, and international champions being recognized at the event were the accomplishments of Aurora Sports Hall of Famer, Breaststroke specialist, and ageless competitive swimmer Dan Thompson who was […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":39167,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_feature_clip_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2},"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false},"categories":[24,9],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-39166","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-news-sports","category-sports"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p3D2k4-abI","publishpress_future_workflow_manual_trigger":{"enabledWorkflows":[]},"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/www.newspapers-online.com\/auroran\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/10\/2026-10-22-16.jpg","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newspapers-online.com\/auroran\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/39166","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newspapers-online.com\/auroran\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newspapers-online.com\/auroran\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newspapers-online.com\/auroran\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newspapers-online.com\/auroran\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=39166"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/www.newspapers-online.com\/auroran\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/39166\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":39168,"href":"https:\/\/www.newspapers-online.com\/auroran\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/39166\/revisions\/39168"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newspapers-online.com\/auroran\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/39167"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newspapers-online.com\/auroran\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=39166"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newspapers-online.com\/auroran\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=39166"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newspapers-online.com\/auroran\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=39166"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}