WELLAND, ONTARIO (August 26, 2017) – For the second year in a row, the Maskwa Aquatic Club is National Champion. The Halifax Club finished this week’s Canadian Sprint Canoe Kayak Championships with a total of 794 race points, edging out Ottawa’s Rideau Canoe Club who finished with 777 points. Rounding out the top three was the Burloak Canoe Club of Oakville, Ontario with 518 points.
More than 1,000 athletes from 43 different clubs across Canada competed this week at the Welland International Flatwater Centre. Points were awarded after each race, with Maskwa athletes winning several categories including the Junior, U17 and Senior Men as well as the Masters Combined.
Maskwa wins overall Canadian Championships. – Photo: J. Verret
Today’s competition was highlighted by a record-setting performance by the four-man kayak crew from the Trois-Rivières Canoe Club who recorded the fastest 200m time ever at a National Sprint Championship. The team of Marc-Alexandre Gagnon, Charles-Antoine Girouard, Zacharie Cameron and Dominik Crête covered the distance in 31.293 seconds, reaching a top speed of 23 kilometres/hour. They finished more than a second faster than second-place Balmy Beach Canoe Club (Toronto, ON) with the Maskwa Aquatic Club taking third place.
In other 200m races on the final day of the 2017 National Championships at the Welland International Flatwater Centre:
- the Senobe Aquatic Club from Dartmouth, Nova Scotia took the Open Women’s K-4 title in a time of 38.610 seconds;
- the Junior Men’s C-4 race was captured by the crew from the Maskwa Canoe Club (Halifax, NS) in a time of 37.178 seconds;
- in the K-2 Junior Men’s event, it was the Balmy Beach Canoe Club taking top prize in a time of 33.532 seconds.
As is tradition at the Canadian Championships, the Senior Men’s C-15 1000m war canoe closed out the competition, a thrilling race that saw the Burloak Canoe Club (Oakville, ON) maintain its stranglehold on the title, beating out the Cheema Aquatic Club (Halifax, NS) and the Senobe Aquatic Club (Dartmouth, NS) for the coveted prize. Burloak has won the Senior Men’s war canoe prize for the last 14 years in a row.
Retirement ceremony for CKC athletes. – Photo: J. Verret
Also highlighting today’s program was a retirement ceremony for five National Team members:
- Adam van Koeverden (Oakville, ON) – with four Olympic and eight world championship medals, he’s the most decorated paddler in Canadian history;
- Gabriel Beauchesne-Sévigny (Trois-Rivières, QC) – Olympian (Beijing 2008) and World Cup gold medalist in C-2;
- Sam Roworth (Toronto, ON) – World Cup medalist in the K-4 1000m;
- Kathleen Fraser (Oakville, ON) – Olympian (Rio 2016) and multiple World Cup medals in K-2 and K-4;
- Genevieve Orton (Lake Echo, NS) – Olympian (Rio 2016) and multiple World Cup medals in K-2 and K-4.
- Ben Russel (Dartmouth, NS) – Pan American Games (2005) gold medalist in the C-2 1000m, Pan American Games (2007) bronze medalist on the C-1 500m and multiple ICF World Championships participations.
“I retired from international competitions, I didn’t retire from going to nationals and racing for a canoe club,” said Van Koeverdan after receiving his plaque. “It felt weird because I wasn’t saying good bye to anybody here, I will probably be here even more now. I had a great career as a national team athlete, and one of the value I cherish the most is friendship and I know I’m always going to be part of this big family,” he proudly added.
For the first time ever, the entire National Sprint Championships were live streamed on the Internet by the WOD and the RTA Sport Media of the Ryerson Univerity in Ontario, attracting a total of more than 1,000 online viewers from across the country. Paddling fans also received up-to-date race results on their mobile devices through the immediaC mobile app available through the App Store.
For full competition results, visit the Canoe Kayak Canada website.
About Canoe Kayak Canada
Canoe Kayak Canada is the national governing body for competitive paddling in Canada, one of Canada’s top performing summer sports with a total of 24 Olympic medals, and a leader in the Paralympic movement. Canoe Kayak Canada is a member-based organization that includes an intricate network of clubs as well as provincial, territorial and divisional paddling associations. Elite National Team athletes proudly represent Canada at various competitions around the globe – most notably the Olympic Games, Paralympic Games, Pan American Games, ICF World Cups as well as Junior, Under 23 and Senior World Championships. Follow Canoe Kayak Canada on Twitter, Facebook, Instagram and YouTube.
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For more information:
Joannie Verret
Communications Coordinator
jverret@canoekayak.ca
(418) 271-3785