BY The Canadian Press

Diving will never be the same for Blythe Hartley.

The death of her brother to cancer last summer has forever changed the two-time world champion and Olympic bronze medallist, but it hasn't extinguished her desire to compete at this summer's OIympics in Beijing.

Hartley, 25, is dedicating this season to her brother Strachan, a former university football star who died July 5 at the age of 30 following a 19-month battle with non-Hodgkins lymphoma.

"I'm never going to stand on the board and think the world is going to end if I miss this dive, which is kind of an attitude I used to have," Hartley said Thursday at Calgary's Talisman Centre where she trains.

"I'm never going to have that again because I've lived something that, to me, was the worst possible thing you could live. Now it's more an inner desire to do well and be my best. If I don't do well, then I'll be disappointed, but I gave my best and that's what matters. I'm looking forward to be competing with that attitude."

Hartley grew up in Vancouver in a household of jocks. Her father Michael competed in the 1972 Olympics in bobsleigh and her mother Mary Ann was a distance runner.

Strachan, a defensive back, captained the University of British Columbia football team to a Vanier Cup in 1997 and was also a co-captain of the McGill football team after transferring there in 2000.

He was diagnosed with cancer in November, 2005, but the five-time academic All-Canadian was able to complete his medical degree the following year.

Brother Wyatt played football at both UBC and Queen's. Sister Aimee-Noel was a two-time NCAA slalom champion at the University of Colorado.

Strachan was at the 2004 Olympics in Athens cheering his sister on to a bronze medal in synchronized diving with Emilie Heymans.

"He always supported me and looked at me the same way whether I came first or came last," Hartley said. "It was an unconditional love and support that is very precious in this world."

The family's healing process has included starting a foundation in Strachan's name to provide sports and educational opportunities to children and families who can't afford them.
Through the foundation, they've planned a 14-day bike relay marathon from Halifax to Victoria involving family and friends. It's scheduled to finish in Victoria during the Olympic diving trials June 20-22.

"I thought about what he would want and the characteristics he demonstrated through his entire life and during his sickness - strength, courage and character," Hartley said. "He inspired me to show the same and be my best in everything I do and be happy about doing it."

She didn't have the focus or the energy for diving last winter as Strachan's condition worsened

"When the terminal diagnosis happened, it's the worst possible thing you can imaging for a loved one," Hartley said. "He had the most treatable cancer out there. It was the same cancer that Mario Lemieux and Saku Koivu had.

"We knew it was reaching a point where it was quite serious and we had to consider the possible negative outcome. It's amazing how draining that can be and how distracting and how emotional it gets. It takes everything out of you."

Hartley eased back into competition this winter starting with a meet in Montreal in December. She finished second in the three-metre springboard at a Grand Prix in Madrid, Spain, last month.

She leaves Friday for Beijing and her first World Cup since 2006. The competition is a test event for the Olympics.

Hartley won world titles on the one-metre and three-metre springboard in 2001 and 2003 respectively. She was fifth in the three-metre springboard in Athens before earning the synchronized bronze on the 10-metre platform with Heymans.

At her first Olympics in 2000, Hartley was an 18-year-old kid in a candy store enjoying the experience, but she felt a lot of pressure and expectations four years later in Athens.

"If I'm lucky enough to go back to a third, I would love to combine my two previous Olympics," Hartley said. "Go and enjoy the experience and soak it all up, but also keep that desire to perform well at the actual Olympics.

"I've never competed feeling this positive and happy to be out there and just giving my best."

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