MacPherson Lowry: Curious, Competitive and Ready to Slide

This particular home in Almonte, Ont., is something special. It’s basically a hothouse of athletic achievement.

Starting with Mom and Dad.

Heidi Lowry played volleyball for Ohio State University, then spent time on the national beach volleyball team. Neil Lowry has made a name for himself as a Highland Games thrower.

Their teenaged kids, no surprise, have also established themselves.

Isabel, 18, is a canoe standout who claimed gold medals at the Sprint Junior and U23 World Championships in Dartmouth, N.S., in the summer. Brother Mason, 17, is headed this fall to the Canoe Marathon World Championships in Argentina.

Which brings us to the baby of the bunch — MacPherson, who, as a 15-year-old kayak sprinter, is already on the path to international competition. More? The Grade 10 student plays basketball, soccer and football. For good measure, he propels the shot put, discus and javelin.

“Since I was a young kid,” says MacPherson, “I’ve always been very athletic.”

Somehow, though, he was not satisfied with his range of pursuits.

So, determined to expand his sporting horizons, he recently heeded the call of Luge Canada. The national body — after assessing
MacPherson’s potential at the RBC Training Ground regional session at the University of Ottawa in April — encouraged the boy to give sliding a whirl.

Ever keen, he quickly declared his interest.

​​​​​​​

In August, MacPherson travelled to Calgary’s WinSport, where he and his fellow prospects tested their conditioning, learned luging fundamentals on a practice sled, and spent time in the Ice House.

“It was a very eye-opening experience,” says MacPherson. “I remember getting into the car with my mom and telling her that I really enjoyed this sport, that it was very interesting and cool to learn something new.

“I remember feeling happiness, too, because I felt I put out a good result and we might have a future in this sport. So, let’s see what it holds for us.”

That kind of fresh start is ideal — and exactly what he’d been hoping for in the spring when he signed up for RBC Training Ground, an identification camp for youngsters to showcase their athletic abilities in front of representatives from national sporting organizations.

His older siblings are regulars in this space, having gone through the process more than once — Isabel drew attention from Rowing Canada, while Mason got nibbles from Rowing Canada and Cycling Canada.

So, MacPherson knew it was possible to earn introductions to sports he’d never considered.

First, though, he needed to ace the four tests at the Training Ground regionals.

Despite having returned from a kayak camp in Portugal only days earlier, MacPherson pushed himself through the ordeal, excelling in the isometric mid-thigh pull.

“I’m a powerful guy — I’ve got strong legs, I’ve got a strong upper body, so I just went and gave it all that I had,” says MacPherson, whose scores qualified him for the RBC Training Ground National Final, featuring the country’s top 100 performers, in October in Toronto. “I had a rough idea of what I’d be able to do, but it was more fun than I assumed it would be. It was cool meeting all the other new athletes, cool being with my brother and sister all day. It was just a great overall experience.

“I went in with the mindset of wanting to see what would happen, giving it my best and seeing if any sports wanted to hit me. To be completely honest, I didn’t think any sport would reach out because it was my first year. I’m a pretty young kid, so I was like,
‘Maybe in my second or third year, I might be able to get some touches.’ “But, lo and behold, Luge Canada reaches out.”

Contacting MacPherson in May, Luge Canada invited him to summer camps in Calgary and Whistler, B.C.

“I got their email,” he says. “My first question to my mom was not, ‘Can I go? Can I see what happens?’ My first question was, ‘Can we go home and watch some video first?’”

As a family, they sat down and spooled through luge highlights from the Olympics. “To be completely honest, I was scared. I was a little nervous about the sport,” says MacPherson, chuckling. “I thought, ‘I think they’re going a little too fast for me.’ But, I mean, I might as well try it and see what happens.”

What happened was he loved it. Now he can’t wait for trips this winter to Whistler and a chance to get a taste of the real thing, all with expert guidance from Luge Canada.

MacPherson appreciates the approach, the way the organization prioritizes the progress of prospects.

“They have it mapped out to the point where they will train you and get you to your fastest possibility of making it to the Olympics,” says MacPherson. “They have great programs. They have planned it out where you need to be.”