SZEGED, HUNGARY (August 22, 2019) – Day two of the 2019 ICF Sprint/Paracanoe World Championships wrapped up on Thursday in Szeged, Hungary. The competition which will run from August 21-25, features the top athletes in the world, aiming for Tokyo 2020 qualifications.
On Wednesday, para athlete Trinity Tratch (Calgary, AB) raced in the KL2 200m event coming fourth in the semi-final, just missing qualification for the A final. Tratch will race the B final on Saturday morning. Erica Scarff (Balmy Beach, ON) also came just short in qualifying for the A final, and will race the KL3 200m B final on Friday.
Michelle Russell (Cheema, NS) came third in her heat, while on the men’s side, Alex Scott (Maskwa, NS) followed her lead, also coming third in K1 200m. Both will race the semi-final in K1 200m on Friday.
On Thursday morning, Mathieu St-Pierre (Shawinigan, QC) had an excellent B final race, placing second in VL2 200m. Canada’s Andrea Nelson came second in her semi-final and qualified for the A final in KL2 200m, which she will race on Friday.
The Canadian canoers had strong starts as well. Roland Varga (Richmond Hill, ON) and Connor Fitzpatrick (Senobe, NS) placed first in their heat to advance to the semi-finals in C2 1000m on Friday. World Champion Katie Vincent (Mississaugua, ON) also won her C1 200m heat, and will compete for her spot in the A final during the semi-finals on Friday.
Later Thursday morning, Natalie Davison (Rideau, ON) and Courtney Stott (Balmy Beach, ON) finished fifth in their K2 500m semi, advancing them to the B final on Saturday.
Finishing off the races on Thursday were Canada’s K4 crews. The men’s crew of Mark de Jonge (Maskwa, NS), Nicholas Matveev (Balmy Beach, ON), Pierre-Luc Poulin (Lac-Beauport, QC) and Simon McTavish (Mississauga, ON) placed fourth in their heat and will advance to the semi-final on Saturday. On the women’s side, Courtney Stott (Balmy Beach, ON), Lissa Bissonnette (Pointe-Claire, QC), Natalie Davison (Rideau, ON) and Michelle Russell (Cheema, NS) came third in their heat and will advance to the semi-final on Saturday as well.
Additional races on Friday include Madeline Schmidt’s K1 500m heat, Brian Malfesi and Vincent Jourdenais in the K2 1000m heat and Mark Oldershaw’s C1 1000m heat.
How to follow:
All races will be available to watch on Planet Canoe’s YouTube here, as well as on CBC Sports here.
Visit the event website here for results.
To view the ICF Tokyo 2020 Olympic qualification system, click here.
To view Canada’s Tokyo 2020 Olympic Team Criteria, click here.
To view Canada’s Tokyo 2020 Paralympic Team Criteria, click here.
Visit Canoe Kayak Canada’s website to get more information and make sure to follow @PlanetCanoe and @CanoeKayakCAN for more live updates.
Subscribe to Canoe Kayak Canada’s mailing list to get all news and results directly to your email.
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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For more information:
Laurel MacAdam
Communications Assistant
Colleen Coderre
Communications Lead