OTTAWA, ONTARIO (December 18, 2017) – Canoe Kayak Canada is proud to announce the partnerships with Montreal and Atlantic Canada as the new homes of the Canadian National Para Canoe team and National Women’s Canoe team, respectively.
CKC is pleased to partner with the Institut national du Sport de Québec (INS Québec) and the Olympic Basin of Montréal to develop a world-leading training environment for its National Para Canoe program, as well as with the Canadian Sport Center Atlantic (CSCA) in Halifax, NS and the Atlantic Division of Canoe Kayak Canada (ADCKC) as home of the National Women’s Canoe program.
Para Canoe National Training Center
Marc Creamer, Para Canoe National Coach and Manager at Canoe Kayak Canada, will be leading the training center, located in the heart of the Olympic Park in Montréal. Through partnership with the Olympic Bassin, a legacy from the 1976 Summer Olympics, the athletes will have access to ideal on and off-water training environments.
“I am delighted to have our Para Canoe Training Center established here in Montreal”, said Creamer. “It is an exciting initiative as our team will be lucky to benefit from world class training facilities at the historic Olympic Bassin on Parc Jean-Drapeau and there is no doubt this will have a tremendous impact on our potential for Tokyo and Paris”, he added.
National Team Training Centers are designed to bring training groups, National Team coaches and technical experts together along with optimal training infrastructure to ensure the highest quality daily training environment for podium potential athletes.
INS Québec develops close to 500 athletes supported by Sport Canada or the Équipe Québec program of the Ministère de l’Éducation, de l’Enseignement supérieur et de la Recherche. With a view to ensuring that both high-performance and up-and-coming athletes can compete on a level playing field on the international scene, INS Québec will offer our Para Canoe athletes excellent services to ensure their good performances on the international stage.
Women’s Canoe National Training Center
Under the leadership of Jan Kruk, Women’s Canoe National Coach at Canoe Kayak Canada, the Women’s Canoe athletes will also have access to ideal on and off-water training environments. Other resources including equipment, sport performance services and support for special projects will also be allocated to the center.
“As we continue to strengthen our sprint high performance program, it’s important that we provide an environment for our top-level athletes to train together with daily support from national team coaches and sport science staff”, said Canoe Kayak Canada’s Chief Executive Officer, Casey Wade. “We are proud to have two world champion female canoers and the creation of this center, through our partnership with the CSCA and ADCKC, will help ensure that our women’s canoe team will be successful internationally for years to come”, he added.
The CSCA already works with the ADCKC and CKC as they became home of the Women’s Kayak team in 2016. The National Training center offers an off-water weight training center, boat storage and access to a world class, nine lane International Canoe Federation race-course, complete to install start gates.
“Both of these two National Training centers will allow our athletes to join other national team athletes from various sports who use INS Québec and the CSCA as their home base”, said Graham Barton, Chief Technical Officer at Canoe Kayak Canada. “Both the Montreal Olympic Basin and the ADCKC have a long history with Canadian National athletes and these partnerships will play an integral role in creating the daily training environment to Para Canoe National team and Women’s Canoe team needs to excel”, he added.
In addition to the local partners, the new national team training center and Canoe Kayak Canada’s High Performance Program are generously supported by Sport Canada, Own the Podium and the Canadian Olympic Committee.
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