I arrived three days early to take a peek at the World Junior and U23 World Championships in Montemor-O-Velho. It was more than a peek, as I found myself caught up in the wild enthusiasm of the Canadian crowd of parents and Canadian supporters occupying the far end of the grandstand. We stood and cheered every success of the Canadian paddlers and there were many: Isabel Lowry (3 Golds) and Toshka Besharah (U23 Gold) were outstanding but many more impressive finishes especially in team boats (K-4s in Finals) were world-class indicating Canada’s depth at these levels and a promising future outlook.
After a day’s break on the course, the ICF Masters event began with an anxious search for rented boats, the building of knee blocks and footrests; and a few test runs on the water. Despite a few setbacks, e.g. someone’s boat not arriving and Alain getting bitten by a fish, the Canadian Masters team helped each other and were ready for action. I had not rented a canoe, so I approached the top NELO rep saying I was the oldest competitor in the competition, would die for a NELO Vanquish III. I guess I looked sad or helpless because he sent someone to distant Porto to get that exact NELO. So, I was able to insert my block and footrest into the canoe, and it was as if I were in my own canoe at home. Obrigado NELO.
Canoe Kayak Canada, through Chris Helyar, provided us with two brilliant Canada team shirts, making us all proud to represent Canada at this competition. It also matched the rising dress-code standards at the Masters events similar to other world international events. For example, I was told that we were to wear the same color hats in C2 or none; that we had to both have sleeveless shirts or to both have short sleeves. We were well-attired, we all looked smart. Obrigado CKC.
In the younger age categories, the entries were numerous with heats required in most races. Our team had many strong performances: Andrea Kerr Joy went home with a trunk full of medals; Nancy Olmsted and Edit Fried were also very strong with medal performances. Chris Helyar dominated both his C1 races winning double gold. In the older groups, there were no races for us on day one, direct finals only a day later. My C2 partner, Bill Lobban, and I had to race against paddlers quite a bit younger than our age category, which was fine; we welcomed the competition and raced quite well in singles canoe. In our C2, again mostly because there were few entries, we won medals.
As a veteran of these competitions, I was particularly impressed by the coordination within the newer masters’ group who had been sharing ideas on WhatsApp over the winter. Bill Lobban and I were particularly grateful for the oversight from Nancy Olmsted , Lindsy Richardson and Diana Garcia, preventing us old guys from getting too lost in our travels from Lisbon to the Buarcos hotel and the racing venue. Seasoned veterans of European regattas, Edit Fried and Alain Bulliard, were also very helpful with hotel and travel arrangements.
My first visit to beautiful Portugal was memorable: staying in a hotel in Buarcos across the street from a beach with huge waves and a cool breeze in the evening allowed for a break from the very warm temperatures during the day. The glassed-in restaurant on the beach was a relaxing place to discuss the events of the day. We enjoyed the tourist scene in Lisbon, climbing hills in narrow streets, and in Oriente, near the airport, where we tried their famous cable car (built for their World’s Fair) hovering over the shoreline. The many photos taken and the ICF T-shirt with all the participating masters’ names displayed on the back will provide a happy reminder of this event. In summary, the trip was time well-spent: Canadian Team camaraderie, the three competitions and the friendly Portuguese people. Obrigado Portugal!
Written and Submitted by Bob Kay.