GAINESVILLE, GEORGIA, USA (April 22, 2018) – Canadian Canoe Kayak Sprint athletes completed the first Sprint Team Trials of a new season of racing this weekend at the Lake Lanier Olympic Park in Gainesville, GA. On the last day, kayakers and canoers showed impressive results in the K-1 200 and C-1 500 meters-races.

The men’s kayak offered an impressive last race today fighting for gold in the K-1 200 meter event. The top 6 competitors finished the race within one second. Olympian Mark De Jonge (Maskwa, N.-S.) stole the show by having the fastest time of the day and finishing first with a time of 34.307 seconds. Close behind De Jonge was Alexander Scott in a time of 34.907 (Maskwa, N.-S.), followed by Ryan Cochrane (Lac-Beauport, QC) who came third with an extremely close time of 34.914 seconds.

“I feel relieved and happy,” said De Jonge right after finishing his race. “I took a year off last year and just came back to the sport full-time, so I am really happy to see that I still have my speed and that there is a lot of stiff competition within Canada.”

“I’m very proud of my athletes this early in the season,” said Frédéric Jobin, national coach of the men’s kayak team. “The depth of the group is impressive, in the 200 meters we have 6 guys finishing within one second, and the 500 and 1000 meter-races are almost as close. It’s very promising for our crew boat programs like the K-2 and K-4.”

The women’s kayak also demonstrated great performances this afternoon in the 200 meter-race. Michelle Russel (Cheema, N.-S.) finished first with a fast time of 39.878, followed closely by Lissa Bissonette (Pointe-Claire, QC ; 40.374) and Andréanne Langlois (Trois-Rivières, QC ; 40.594).

The canoe athletes were competing in the C-1 500 meter event as their last race of these trials. Craig Spence (Cheema, N.-S.) placed first with a time of 1:48.385 in the men’s C-1 and Vincent-Lapointe lead the women’s race with a time of 2:03.515.

Monday, Canoe Kayak Canada will be announcing the selected teams that will be representing Canada at the 2018 ICF World Cups, as well as the selected athlete who have already secured a sport on the 2018 World Championships team.

You can watch all finals on the Canoe Kayak Canada YouTube channel and find today’s results on the Canoe Kayak Canada website, as well as the starts lists for Sunday’s races.

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