Enfield’s Lefresne named to Canadian Lawn Bowls team for Commonwealth Games

ENFIELD: A lawn bowls athlete from Enfield is among 10 named to Team Canada for the 2022 Commonwealth Games, announced June 9.

Cameron Lefresne has been named to take part in the triples and fours action at the Commonwealth Games, set for July 28 to Aug. 8 in Birmingham, England.

Former CTV Reporter Jackie Foster, of Bridgetown, is the only other Nova Scotian named to the team.

The team is led by six-time Commonwealth Games participant Ryan Bester (Hanover, ON), five female and five male athletes will aim their sights on the podium this summer. The athletes will compete in multiple disciplines of men’s and women’s singles, pairs, triples and fours. 

“The Commonwealth Games are the biggest multi-sport event on the lawn bowls competition calendar. We are thrilled to be on our way to the Birmingham 2022 Commonwealth Games with such a strong team of athletes,” says Anna Mees, Chief Executive Officer of Bowls Canada. “We had solid performances in 2018 on the Gold Coast and we are looking to build on that momentum this summer in Birmingham.”

The 10 athletes were selected based on their performance at a multi-day selection event held in May 2022 at the Windsor Lawn Bowling Club. 

In addition to veterans such as Bester, 2022 marks the Commonwealth Games debut of twenty-two year old Jordan Kos (Regina, SK).  Kos, a rising force on the national team since her teens, has been given the nod to play singles as veteran Kelly McKerihen (Toronto, ON) moves to skip the women’s triples and fours. 

“It is more than an honour and a privilege to represent Canada at the 2022 Commonwealth Games,” says Kos. “It is a dream come true – especially playing lawn bowls, the game I love, with such a talented team of athletes and supportive coaching staff.  I will wear the maple leaf proudly.” 

At the 2018 Commonwealth Games, lawn bowls had five top four finishes in addition to a silver medal in men’s singles from Ryan Bester. 

“Lawn Bowls Canada has done tremendous work with their high-performance programs, and their results at the 2018 Gold Coast Commonwealth Games demonstrated that they are on a positive trajectory,” says Scott Stevenson, Executive Director, Team Canada 2022. “We look forward to seeing the 2022 lawn bowls team build upon the 2018 results, including Ryan Bester’s silver medal and numerous fourth place finishes, with more podium results in Birmingham.”

The lawn bowls competition will take place at Victoria Park, Royal Leamington Spa, July 29 – August 6 with a total of 11 events.

Birmingham 2022 will feature 19 sports and 8 para-sports as part of its program with up to 4,500 athletes taking part.

The Commonwealth Games are the only multi-sport event that feature equal standing for sport and para-sport events, and these 2022 Games will showcase the largest para-sport program ever. In addition, for the first time in its history, the Games will feature more medal events for women (135) than men (133).