Olympic Paddlers heading to semifinals in Tokyo

Aug
2
Uncategorized
Posted By: Canoe Kayak Canada

Team Canada kicked off racing at the steamy Sea Forest Waterway with heats and quarterfinals deciding who advances to the semifinals tomorrow, Japan time. Canada competed in WK1 200m, MC2 1000m, MK1 1000m and WK2 500m events.

Andréanne Langlois and Michelle Russell both advanced to their semifinals in the WK1 200m.

“My heat could have gone better but we haven’t raced in so long so you never know how you are going rank and it is obviously the Olympics so everyone is bringing their A game,” said Russell. “The quarterfinals offered an opportunity to improve and get a bit more race experience and take it from there.”

“My quarterfinal was more consistent throughout the whole race so I am really happy about this race,” said Langlois. “I love this distance, it is my favourite so it would be good to go out on a good note.”

Roland Varga and Connor Fitzpatrick raced in the C2 1000m today finishing 5th in the heat, and 4th in the quarterfinals to lock up a spot in the semifinals. The temperatures are soaring in Tokyo and a hot topic for performance here at the Olympic Games.

“I personally love the heat, and for both of us this year, the harder the conditions the better,” said Fitzpatrick.  “Our fitness is incredible and we are doing all the right things to cope with the heat. When you get out to the start line and in the gate, you don’t even think about it.”

“A week before in Montreal, we were training in a concrete jungle and we got the preparation we needed,” said Varga. “We are as prepared as possible.”

Simon McTavish raced the MK1 1000m in a very competitive field and did not advance to the semifinals yet looking ahead to the men’s K4 500m.

Alanna Bray-Lougheed and Madeline Schmidt did not advance to the WK2 500m semifinals and will regroup for the K4 500m event.

More information on the canoe and kayak sprint events can be found on the Tokyo 2020 website here.

Race previews:

Monday August 2

 

8:30 PM EDT Women’s K1 200m Semifinals Andréanne Langlois

Michelle Russell

8:44 PM EDT Men’s C2 1000m Semifinals Roland Varga

Connor Fitzpatrick

 

10:30 PM EDT Women’s K1 200m Finals TBD
10:46 PM EDT Men’s C2 1000m Finals TBD

 

Tuesday August 3

 

8:30 PM EDT Men’s K1 200m Heats Mark de Jonge

Nick Matveev

8:58 PM EDT Women’s C1 200m Heats Katie Vincent

Laurence Vincent-Lapointe

9:19 PM EDT Women’s K1 500m Heats Michelle Russell
9:54 PM EDT Men’s K2 1000m Heats Brian Malfesi

Vincent Jourdenais

 

10:32 PM EDT Men’s K1 200m Quarterfinals TBD
10:53 PM EDT Women’s C1 200m Quarterfinals TBD
11:07 PM EDT Women’s K1 500m Quarterfinals TBD
11:21 PM EDT Men’s K2 1000m Quarterfinals TBD

 

 

Wednesday August 4

 

8:30 PM EDT Men’s K1 200m Semifinals TBD
8:44 PM EDT Women’s C1 200m Semifinals TBD
8:58 PM EDT Women’s K1 500m Semifinals TBD
9:12 PM EDT Men’s K2 1000m Semifinals TBD

 

10:20 PM EDT Men’s K1 200m Finals TBD
10:36 PM EDT Women’s C1 200m Finals TBD
11:01 PM EDT Women’s K1 500m Finals TBD
11:26 PM EDT Men’s K2 1000m Finals TBD

 

 

Thursday August 5

 

8:30 PM EDT Women’s C2 500m Heats Laurence Vincent-Lapointe

Katie Vincent

8:44 PM EDT Men’s C1 1000m Heats Connor Fitzpatrick

Roland Varga

9:15 PM EDT Women’s K4 500m Heats Andreanne Langlois

Michelle Russell

Alanna Bray-Lougheed

Madeline Schmidt

9:30 PM EDT Men’s K4 500m Heats Nick Matveev

Mark de Jonge

Pierre Luc Poulin

Simon McTavish

 

 

10:07 PM EDT Women’s C2 500m Quarterfinals TBD
10:21 PM EDT Men’s C1 1000m Quarterfinals TBD

 

 

Friday August 6

 

8:30 PM EDT Women’s C2 500m Semifinals TBD
8:44 PM EDT Men’s C1 1000m Semifinals TBD
9:07 PM EDT Women’s K4 500m Semifinals TBD
9:14 PM EDT Men’s K4 500m Semifinals TBD

 

10:15 PM EDT Women’s C2 500m Finals TBD
10:31 PM EDT Men’s C1 1000m Finals TBD
11:00 PM EDT Women’s K4 500m Finals TBD
11:19 PM EDT Men’s K4 500m Finals TBD

 

Athlete List

 

Discipline Athlete
Men’s Kayak Simon McTavish

Mark de Jonge

Nick Matveev

Brian Malfesi

Vincent Jourdenais

Pierre Luc Poulin

Women’s Kayak Michelle Russell

Andreanne Langlois

Alanna Bray-Lougheed

Madeline Schmidt

Men’s Canoe Roland Varga

Connor Fitzpatrick

Women’s Canoe Laurence Vincent-Lapointe

Katie Vincent

 

Alternates: Lissa Bissonette, Courtney Stott