KRAKOW, POLAND (July 22, 2019) – After a week-long competition at the 2019 ICF Canoe Slalom Junior/U23 World Championships, the Canadian team is heading home with some promising performances. Twelve Canadian slalom athletes competed in Krakow, Poland, on the Kolna Canoe Slalom Course from July 16th – 21st.
It was a great learning experience for many of Canada’s Next Gen slalom paddlers, who gained valuable training and competition time at this common international slalom venue.
“I think our athletes will return to Canada with a clear objective of what areas they want to work on for the remainder of the summer in order to maximize their potential at the National Championships in August,” said James Cartwright, Senior High Performance Manager and Coach Development at Canoe Kayak Canada. “Travelling to Europe to race and train on the best facilities and to race the top athletes from around the world is a gift and now it’s important to learn from this experience and set ambitious objectives for the years ahead.”
The team events were an exciting portion of the competition, with Canada competing in the junior men’s K1 team, the junior women’s K1 team, and the U23 men’s K1 team. The team races consist of three athletes weaving their boats through the gates one by one down the whitewater course as quickly as possible. This is always a crowd favourite and the smallest miscalculation can lead to a dramatic boat pile-up. Athletes musts learn to anticipate each other’s moves while also navigating through the difficult whitewater.
Jean-Benoît Lemay, Maël Rivard and Mark Zielonka made up the Canadian men’s junior team, and had an excellent race finishing 13th out of 20 with just two touches of the gates. Rivard then went on to qualify for the semi-finals in the junior men’s K1 event and placed an impressive 24th out of 77 competitors.
Canada’s Lois Betteridge qualified for the semi-finals after first run in the U23 women’s C1, coming 16th with no touches. She later finished that event in 28th place and came 10th with partner Jakob Kryworuchko in the U23 mixed C2 event.
Junior athlete Jocelyn Taylor came in 31st place in the women’s K1 event, missing qualification for the semi-finals by just one spot.
Click here to view the full list of results.
The Canadian slalom athletes will compete next in Minden Hills, Ontario, from August 12th-16th, where they will battle it out for top honours at the 2019 Canadian Whitewater National Championships. Early registration for this event closes July 31st (all event fees will increase by $50.00 after this date). To register, click here. Late registration closes August 12th. The host committee is currently seeking volunteers to help with the event. To learn more about volunteering, click here.
Visit Canoe Kayak Canada’s website to get more information and make sure to follow @PlanetCanoe and @CanoeKayakCAN for more live updates.
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About Canoe Kayak Canada
Canoe Kayak Canada (CKC) 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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Laurel MacAdam
Communications Assistant
Colleen Coderre
Communications Lead